A League of His Own
by Garnetio Solozari
Summary: When Naruto decided to leave Konoha during the month before the Chuunin Exam Finals, he figured he'd work on the basics and try to learn a new technique. Simple, right? Nothing with Uzumaki Naruto is simple, and his nostalgic trip back to Wave swiftly turns into an epic journey that will answer a few of his oldest questions, while simultaneously creating several more.
1. Chapter 1

**Gah, here we are again folks, another story by this fool~**

 **First of all, let me say that I apologize to everyone who follows me for Guardian Enforcer and Nature's Prince, my updates have been nonexistent due to personal problems, bit more detail on that will be in their most recent chapter when they are posted.**

 **This is a bit of a side project that may or may not be updated depending on the reception it receives from the general community. This will be an official Naruto and League of Legends crossover that will dramatically change how Naruto is involved in the canon. Abilities gained during blank periods or during off screen shenanigans are out the window. Naruto will remain a bit of a comical knucklehead, but you can bet that he will snowball into someone to be feared with time.**

 **There will be no horrid, unrealistic bashing of any characters, even the ones that I have seething, righteous hate for. Looking at you, Sasuke-hime. If there is a strong dislike for a certain character or set of characters, I will attempt to give such dislike reasonable, structured points of reference. For instance, you will not see Naruto standing over Sasuke mouthing off at him for three paragraphs with nothing but ridiculous nicknames. There will be no all caps raging Sakura that gives people hearing impairment for the sake of cliché comedy. I think I've made my point here.**

 **As with any good fanfiction, there will be aspects of romance. I may have hinted at one possible romance, though that can change with time. I always love to hear suggestions on this, so for the love of whatever God you dabble with… review!**

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 **I don't own any of this, duh... well maybe the storyline, and any random origin... you know damn well you don't need to hear this! I AM A POOR MAN!**

* * *

Thirteen year old Uzumaki Naruto was not a particularly happy person at the best of times, so one can understand that finding the boy pacing back and forth across the short bridge leading to the training grounds huffing indignantly was common place. His cerulean blue eyes were blazing with untamed fury while his unruly, sunshine blonde hair seemed to writhe and flick in tune with his maelstrom of emotions. He'd been bitterly cursing the world ever since his brief meeting with the Jonin sensei assigned to his miserable team, Hatake Kakashi. He wasn't so much angry with his sensei, because Kami knows the man had no other choice in the matter. No, Naruto was angry with the world and how fate kept abusing him like he was some kind of desperate girlfriend. And like the proverbial naïve little girl he often resembled he just kept crawling back with hopes that things will look up, or at least change into another form of disappointment to break from the monotony.

Things had gone down hill the moment his team had decided to join the Chuunin Exams… well, more like things had decided to simply take the express downhill rather than the sluggish crawl it had been taking for the previous few months. Ever the happy-go-lucky moron that he was, Naruto had leapt at the chance to prove his worth by challenging the exams. He boasted a big game, I mean come on, he had mastered so many wonderful and awesome techniques… well, no, he hadn't. In fact, he had barely touched base with half of the basics since his team's return from Wave. Training schedules had been drawn up by Kakashi-sensei, but most of it had been individual study so that the man could help oversee his teammate's newest toy. While Naruto was proud to have self taught most of his best skills… well, his best skills weren't that great no matter how much enthusiasm he put into his work.

Immediately after the exams began Naruto realized something: he was utterly in over his head! Right off the bat Fate, or whatever cruel deity plaguing him, had decided that a super amazing promotional exam needed a written portion. He could practically feel Kami bending him over the table when he realized the questions sounded more like drunken ramblings. I mean, how in the world was he supposed to know when two groups of ninjas would cross paths if both were traveling along intersecting directions at different speeds? He couldn't even remember how many bowls of ramen… no, _that_ he could remember. Regardless, it was by sheer dumb luck that he'd been able to pass along with his team after the proctor, a scary man with more scars than skin, revealed the true purpose behind the whole thing. Looking back he could only groan in embarrassment… he had made another of his obnoxious, spur of the moment speeches.

With the written portion well behind him he figured that he would be sailing smooth like a fisherman on a sunny day. That disillusion passed with the subtlety of a shuriken shaped kidney stone. Not only was the proctor for the second phase of the exam even scarier than mister 'sleeps with kunai,' this woman was unhealthily comfortable with blood play. Thank god Kakashi had given him that scroll _Seduction Tactics for the Sadistic Sou_ l or he might have been even more disturbed by the odd woman. Things did not get any better after that encounter with the 'Sensual Snake.' Pedophile of the Year and winner of _Bum Bum Paradise's_ 'Fanny Bandit Golden Baton,' Orochimaru of the Sannin, caught his team with their pants down in the middle of the forest they used for the movie _Jurassic Shinobi_. One giant snake, a clash with Hannibal Lecter's biggest fanboy, and the nibble of a lifetime later, and his entire team showed up half dead to the end of the second phase.

A collection of pointless fights were the only relief from the chaos that he had suffered so far, and of course a little salt in the wound does wonders. His own fight had passed in a blur… but the end results were in his favor, regardless of how… unfortunate the situation had been. And cue another of his passionate, knuckleheaded speeches promising an ass beating to a boy with no concept of reality… probably not one of his better judgment calls, but that sweet girl… to hell with it, that guy, Neji or whatever his name is, will regret what he did to her.

Naruto slammed his fist down on the wooden railing of the small bridge and cursed as the wood shattered from the force, "Damn it! Now my hand is probably broken on top of everything else that's gone bad this week… grr!"

Naruto grumbled several obscenities while trying to ignore the pain throbbing from his hand, _'I still can't believe he can't train me this month… stupid council… hasn't Sasuke been given enough? I'm not even asking for all of his time… just a little to help guide me… I need some focus… damn my hand hurts.'_

With his thoughts slowing down he let his body slump against the intact railing opposite the now smashed wood rail behind him. He let his eyes fall toward the water below where he could see his reflection clearly against the backdrop of the bright sky above. It was times like this when he was alone and feeling the weight of all his troubles pressing down on him when he let the mask fall. Two dull blue eyes stared into their watery reflection with an empty, deadened expression. He never shed any tears anymore, not since he realized no one cared about his pain. He put up a bold front for everyone else to hide this side of him… this pathetic, vulnerable… worthless side of himself.

' _ **Worthless… pathetic…'**_

' _No! I'm not worthless!'_ Life and color came back to Naruto's eyes and face as his hands gripped the rail, "I can't give up yet. I don't need Kakashi-sensei to help make me strong… I don't need anyone! If everyone just wants to see me lose then I'll just have to… damn it, I am monologue-ing a sappy speech again…" His head slammed down on the rail with a resounding thud.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, possibly the strongest senior citizen in the Elemental Nations, was having a tough day. Paperwork that morning had been hellish, in no small part due to the recent appearance of his least favorite student, Orochimaru. Endless security meetings had taken up all of his periods of free time between stacks of papers, effectively forcing him to work non-stop. His buxom secretary had called in sick forcing him to call in one of his Chuunin reserve shinobi to temporarily fill the position… and the only one available was a man. His only saving grace was the potent, rich tobacco imported from Taki. Oh, how those herbs helped keep him from losing his mind… though they do give him quite the appetite.

Just as the vapors were taking effect and dulling the throb of his headache the doors to his office opened with a resounding crash. Peeking over the large stacks of unfinished paperwork he could just barely see the mop of familiar blonde hair walking toward his desk, "Is that you, Naruto-kun?"

"Old man! The heck is that nasty smell?" Naruto's voice echoed around the obstacle currently blocking both their views of each other, "Uhh… old man, you aren't smoking your paper work, are you?"

Naruto watched the old man wave a hand about dismissively while chuckling behind the wall of work orders and mission reports, "Of course not Naruto… paperwork has been printed with fire resistant paper ever since the Shodaime burned the first Hokage tower down in…"

The blonde groaned as Hiruzen went on a little tangent down memory lane, "Listen, old man… I was wondering if I could get a pass to leave Konoha for the month."

The old Kage stopped talking for a moment as he tried to gather his wits, "Wha… a pass? You need a hall pass? You've been out of the academy for about two months or so…"

Naruto palmed his face, "Dear Kami he's smoking that stuff from Taki again… No, I need clearance to exit the village for training purposes. Just for the month."

"Clarence… that name doesn't sound like it belongs in this genre…" Hiruzen took another long drag from his pipe before blowing out smoke rings and laughing to himself.

' _You've got to be kidding me right now…'_ Naruto briefly pulled on his hair before he stopped abruptly, his face splitting with a very foxy grin, "You just keep… doing whatever it is you're doing back there…"

Naruto stepped out of the Hokage office and walked back down the hall towards the secretary's desk. Seated there behind the desk was none other than his favorite Chuunin academy instructor: Umino Iruka. The man's face was a mask of boredom if the half lidded eyes and far-away expression were anything to go by. Naruto could hardly contain the chuckle at seeing his older brother figure mirroring the exact same expressions that he once held while listening to the man go on and on about historically significant nonsense. While he would have preferred the chance to ogle the busty brunette that normally worked the front desk, the sudden burst of nostalgia was a pretty good substitute. The satisfaction that his next move would be all the easier was also a good plus.

Creeping up behind the half asleep Chuunin was far easier than it should have been. When the young blonde was thoroughly satisfied that his former instructor was completely unaware of his presence, he reared back before shouting, "Hey Iruka-sensei~!"

"Bwah~!" Umino Iruka was a proud man. He was a ninja of the Hidden Leaf. He was a terror feared by all of his students. He was the only person not of the Akimichi in Konoha who could manipulate the size of his head. He was also clutching his heart while praying that he wouldn't need a change of pants, though he wasn't in a state to check at the moment, "Naruto! You little punk! The hell did you do that for?!"

"Sucks to be screamed at when you're half asleep, doesn't it, _sensei-chan_ ~?" Naruto asked while folding his arms behind his head and giggling viciously, patented foxy, shit eating grin plastered on his face.

" _Sensei-chan…?_ " Iruka asked in an all too calm tone of voice, "I know where you live."

The calm tone, firmness, and finality of his words sent shivers down Naruto's spine, but ever the cocky little shit he merely grinned wider, "Them's fightin' words, ya know? Remember what happened to Oiko-sensei."

Iruka blinked in confusion as his anger slipped away into oblivion, "Oiko-sensei? Who is that?"

Naruto suddenly took on a dark look that was only more menacing as his lips never lost their grin, "Exactly."

Whether it was a malfunctioning air-conditioning unit or his nerves going wacky, Iruka was almost sure that the room felt colder. And then there were the whispered screams of terror that crept up around him, though he could see no one else nearby showing signs of hearing it. Turning his attention back to the young blonde his heart nearly leapt from his chest. The little brat had snuck up so their faces were nearly touching, "O-okay, Naruto, let's stop messing around. Why are you here? Last I checked the Hokage has no meetings today."

Naruto could tell the normally good natured man was lying pretty easily. Kami forbid the man ever play poker with anyone, he would likely walk home naked. There was no way, what with the old man currently burning through his stash of 'Taki Greens,' that there weren't any meetings. It was likely that Iruka was ordered to dissuade anyone from knowing how hectic things had become after the incident in the Forest of Death. Luckily, due to his involvement in said incident, Naruto was fairly certain that he could fool the friendly fellow into believing that he was allowed to be in the Hokage office. Before when he had stormed into the old man's room he hadn't even noticed that Iruka was seated there, and the man had obviously been… distracted so he didn't notice Naruto bustle by.

Naruto nodded to himself before adopting his usual sheepish pose and shuffling his feet, "Well, err… I kind of got called here. You know me." Naruto didn't know how to interpret the knowing look that Iruka gave him, but he pushed on, "While he was talking to me, he was working on some papers. He asked me to fetch him a… uh… Travel Pass! Yeah, one of those, hehe." Naruto put on his biggest, goofiest grins in order to further disarm the Chuunin.

"Naruto-kun, you really need to take your career more seriously, ya know? Being a Shinobi isn't about rushing around and throwing yourself into trouble…" Iruka went on and on about what it means to be a ninja of the Leaf, how important it is to remain professional, how exhausting it must be for the old man to deal with his shenanigans… it was getting ridiculous. Regardless of that, Naruto could see the disappointment Iruka was feeling by the look in his eyes. This whole thing had started as a ruse to try and secure legal permission to escape the hell hole of Konoha, but now Naruto couldn't help feeling like Iruka was deliberately trying to hurt him. Of course the man wasn't doing that, he was way too noble, hell the man had taken a hit for him the night after graduation. It was the complete acceptance that Naruto had been called to the Hokage's office for some form of reprimanding that struck the kid.

Iruka let out a small sigh while shaking his head and wearing a small sympathetic smile, "Anyway… let me get that form for ya. Did he mention how long the Travel Pass was supposed to last? A destination in case we need to call them back in?" The Chuunin knew that the Sandaime and Naruto were close and that if the boy was sent he might likely have told him such details, as long as it wasn't something too serious.

Naruto almost lost his composure when Iruka asked his questions. It was a fine stroke of luck that he had even bought the lie, but this… this was incredible! Naruto could easily slip right out of the village and no one would be the wiser! The only problem was… where the hell was he going? He couldn't just go anywhere, that could cause quite a damn mess. He could lie… but then, what if he did and they sent someone to fetch him in an emergency and he wasn't there? There weren't a whole lot of places he had been, and even less places where he knew… people…

A light snapped on in his brain as inspiration stuck him like a wrecking ball in a china shop. Where could he go where he was familiar with the territory? Where did people who wouldn't turn him away live? Where could he go to train in secret that was perfectly safe for him?

"One-month Travel Pass to Wave Country!"

* * *

"Ayame, you want to grab this garbage and take it out back?" An older voice called out from the kitchen of a small shack in the Market District.

A young woman standing out front leaning on the counter let out a small huff when she heard her father calling out his request. Ichiraku Ayame was a slender young woman of about seventeen years who worked in the small shack selling ramen with her father, the older gentleman in the back currently yelling about the garbage. Working in the food service industry left the young woman with little choice in outfit, thus she was normally seen wearing a loose robe with various colored aprons tied snug about her waist. She found her wardrobe a bit lacking, as would most young women, but her love for her work overrode her desire to look pretty. Regardless, she kept her hair tied back in a high ponytail with various bandannas with a bit hanging down her right cheek. It helped accentuate her cute face, and it contrasted very nicely with her fair skin.

Instead of answering verbally Ayame chose to just act, considering the lack of customers it would at least give her something to do. Appearing in the back just before her father was preparing to holler again she gave the man a mock glare, which he answered with a nervous chuckle. Ichiraku Teuchi was a handsome gentleman who was rarely ever seen without his trademark smile. As one would expect he held himself with the air of a true chef, regardless of his humble choice in cuisine. Brown hair to match his daughter's was hidden well beneath his chef's cap to protect the sanctity of his precious ramen. Most had no idea what his eyes looked like behind his charismatic smiling countenance. As with most quality chefs the man wore a spotless, tightly tied white robe with folded sleeves and a very messy apron.

Sure enough the bin was practically overflowing with discarded waste and broken supply boxes. Ayame gave a small sigh, "I swear, why don't you ever let me know to take out the trash _before_ Yami has a chance to curse it?"

"You know I don't have time to stop while I am creating perfection! If I turn away for even a second, imagine what might befall my beloved ramen? I… also forget to check…" Teuchi had started strong with a blazing fire in his eyes, though eventually he cowed before the small, albeit intense, glare his beloved daughter sent his way. That was something she most definitely inherited from her mother, Kami watch over her.

Ayame let her boiling stew of ire simmer down to a slightly agitated broth before letting out a soft sigh, "Sometimes I think you're going senile early dad…"

The girl got to work tying the bags and tossing all the recyclable bits into an old milk crate as her father spoke up with vigor, "Nonsense my little ramen fairy, this is the Food of the Gods, Ramen from Heaven, Ambramen! Through it I will live forever, hahaha~!"

Ayame hefted the bag over her shoulder with a small huff before grabbing the crate and heading out the back door. As her father's laughter echoed behind her and was soon muffled by the closed door she couldn't resist the smile on her face. He might be a bit eccentric at times, but Teuchi was a good man and a wonderful father. Most people, particularly the male shinobi population in Konoha, had called the man a bleeding heart. Teuchi would give away free food to the needy, offer his stall to people caught in bad weather without demanding their business, and often times offered council to his customers whenever they were feeling down. If you were to ask Teuchi about it he would wave it off and tangent off about ramen being holy or something else ridiculous. In reality, a lot of young shinobi in Konoha owed their lives to the man for lending an ear when they needed someone most. Talking about your troubles is always best done over a warm bowl of food rather than a warn saucer of sake.

Thinking about how much the old ramen chef helped the people of Konoha eventually led her to thinking about a certain blonde knucklehead, and her already present smile spread even further. Teuchi had really helped keep little Naruto on the right path. The boy had just showed up one night during a particularly terrible thunderstorm. She was eight at the time so she wasn't allowed in the kitchen, but she was helping out the shop by sitting on one of the stools at the bar and drawing pictures of noodle bowls for her daddy's advertisement posters. Just as Teuchi was closing up the front shutters for the night the man noticed some sniffling that was barely audible over the rushing wind and crashing thunder. Naruto, only four at the time, was sitting out in the rain under the very little overhang their shop provided and he was soaked right to the bone.

Teuchi was no idiot, he knew exactly who the boy was and what the people thought of him… but he had always been a firm believer in the stupidity of people. A person is smart, capable of rationalization and understanding. People are dumb, panicky, jumpy and prone to a hive mind mentality where the masses believe in one understanding without giving thought to it. The Ichiraku had always been agnostics because of their unwillingness to let others' ideals sway their personal beliefs if they could perceive that something was askew. Instead of seeing the hell spawn that had taken the lives of hundreds of people, he saw a sad, frightened, and clearly starving little boy in need. That night Ramen Ichiraku stayed open late and Teuchi made sure to fill that little boy's tummy with as much warm ramen as he could guzzle down. When the morning came and the sun finally won out over the rain, a friendship that would last a life time had been formed between an old man, a sweet girl, and cute little blonde brat.

Ayame was brought out of her musings as she bumped into someone on her way to the garbage piles in the back alley. As with many areas of the Market District there were large back alleys where carts could pull up to drop off shipments of supplies to different shops and food shacks without messing up the foot traffic of the main road. Along each back alley were designated spots where rubbish and recyclables were placed to remove the threat of stench near the shopping areas, and also making pickup a breeze for the garbage crew. The only real flaw of the alley system were the ruffians who wandered about in the darkness to avoid the eyes of the patrolling Shinobi Police Force. Ayame found her path barred by three shifty looking men, all older and larger than her, and they were each wearing grins that made her feel unquestionably uncomfortable.

Steeling her nerves she decided to try and talk her way out of this, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I need to take these to the garbage."

The man whose chest she had bumped into smirked rather viciously, "Take it easy girl, pretty sure you can make it up to me easily enough."

"A little bump like that seems pretty small to expect restitution…" Ayame tried to make her way around the men only for them to follow her movements and block her escape.

There is one golden rule when dealing with ruffians, vagabonds, and altogether bad men… never, ever, use words that are more than three syllables long. Unfortunately, no one had ever given Ayame that particular handbook, which is exactly why she was unaware that she had just poked the lion, "Ya know… daddy doesn't like his baby girl to be so uppity… makes him think she feels like she is better than him. You know what happens when baby girl is bad?"

The brunette was in no way a trained ninja, but she her civilian raised mind could detect the ill intent rolling off of these men. With no way of escape she took a moment to look over each of them a bit to see if she could spot anything that could help her. The ring leader, or at least the one speaking, was about a head taller than her making him about six feet tall with dark brown hair. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and brown pants. His feet were covered in a pair of dark brown leather boots. All together, his height was the only really intimidating thing about him. She could just barely see a lump in his pocket that could be a knife, but he was clearly so full of himself lording over a young girl to weild it. His partners were wearing identical sets of clothing, though their shirts were green and grey. Green shirt had a bald head with a scar on his scalp that shone brilliantly in contrast to his pale white skin. Grey shirt had shaggy black hair that stuck out at angles only hair gel could accomplish. Neither of them looked to be carrying anything on them, though their large fists were more than enough to hurt her if they sought to.

Blue shirt stepped forward and with a swipe of his arm he tore the crate of cans and folded boxes out of her hand. Debris from the craft crashed across the dirt floor of the alley as Ayame gasped. The bag she was carrying was yanked hard enough for her to yelp as her arm that had been holding it over her shoulder was taken for the ride and hurt her shoulder from the jerking. Ayame felt her arms being gripped by two rough hands and hot breath rushed passed her right ear. She felt her stomach turn as she smelled the stench of cheap sake and rotten sushi. Blue shirt was smirking smugly while he admired her front, his eyes lingering far too long on her mostly developed feminine figure. Ayame wanted to scream, to shout, to cry out for anyone nearby, but her fear was racking her body. The leader of her attackers saw her fearful eyes glisten with budding tears and it only seemed to excite him more.

He stepped up closer to the ramen waitress and with a quick grab he held her chin in his fingers while looking right into her eyes, "Can't even talk, huh? Must be some kind of closet slut that only just realized how she wants to be handled… almost a shame to have to share… but that's how you like it, isn't it baby girl?"

Fury. Feminine, righteous, untamable fury rose up in Ayame as this despicable pervert demeaned and degraded her. No one, _no one_ , called a woman something like that and got away unscathed. As the bastard rubbed his filthy thumb across her cheek and lips while his comrades chuckled and laughed, she took action. As swift as the wind she twisted her face around and in an act that she would later regret due to hours of having to brush her teeth, she bit down on his thumb with all the might of an alligator. She had been aiming to take the digit, but sadly her swift movement left much to be desired in terms of accuracy, so she settled for the satisfying chunk of flesh that she was able to rip off the bastard. She immediately spat the offending flesh from her lips with a dry heave as the sickening taste of iron overwhelmed her.

"Fuck~! This whore bit off a piece of my Kami damned finger! You stupid, stupid slut! Screw plowing her, cut her damn throat!" Blue shirt hollered before moving to back hand Ayame with his good hand.

Ayame knew then that she was going to be in a lot of pain. There was no avoiding this, even if she were able to scream for help. These men were likely to slit her throat and escape while people scrambled to summon aid from patrolling ninjas. Her current situation told her the nearest ninjas were obviously far enough away to not notice the crime already taking place. They would likely beat her first, and then they would kill her, or worse… her eyes closed tightly in preparation for the pain that would tear through her face as the man lifted his hand up. Moments passed and she felt nothing. And then, her would be molester screamed for a brief second before his voice was silenced into incoherent gurgles. More of the foul scent of blood filled her nose before she slowly opened her eyes, and what she saw filled her with equal parts hope and disgust.

* * *

Naruto was so incredibly happy with how things were starting to look up. Sure, the day had started a bit rough, but now that he was all set to leave Konoha for a month he had no regrets. Getting the old man to sign the Travel Pass was child's play, and the fact that his special tobacco had spread enough to effect his ANBU detail was a godsend. He had to wonder how their masks didn't filter out the toxins from the tobacco, but that was something he would investigate later on. Afterward he went right to his apartment to fetch his travel bag and all of his valuables. Besides his precious gama-chan and assorted pictures of his few friends, all he had were a limited edition ramen bowl that he bought about three years prior, and a hand stitched patch of cloth with a swirl that he had been given as a small boy by the old man. He'd used the pattern to copy onto all of his shirts as a way of staking claim on the symbol if he could ever get enough fame to start his own clan.

With several spare sets of clothes and what little stockpiled food he had left in his bag with his valuables he set out to get one last lunch at his favorite place in the world. Ramen Ichiraku was a beacon of light in the otherwise bleak and miserable world that he lived in. He'd been visiting the place since he was four and if he was completely honest with himself it was the only place that tethered him to life. There had been plenty of times during his lonely nights when he contemplated just ending it all. Pretty dark world that forces a child so young to want to leave it that badly, but obviously he had never found the will to do it. And it wasn't the old man keeping him straight, or his love for Konoha, which was laughable in and of its self. Teuchi and Ayame, the only remaining Ichiraku in Konoha, were the only thing keeping him alive, and it wasn't their ramen, though he would never tell Teuchi that.

Naruto loved Teuchi like the uncle that he never had. He wanted to view the man as a father, but ultimately Naruto could never fit the man into that role. Teuchi was never a stern man with him for longer than a few minutes at a time, and then he would switch gears into his usual jovial self singing praises to the Ramen Gods, regardless of the awkward stares he would get. Like an uncle he would often spoil Naruto with free ramen even if the boy had the money to pay for his meal. And then there was Ayame… Naruto had the most immeasurable, unequivocal, unabashed crush on the older girl. When they were little she was the one to teach him how to read and write after it was clear his instructors weren't doing their job. She taught him how to properly do his laundry so he would stop ruining his whites. She was the one to hold him whenever he couldn't stop himself from crying during his visits to Ramen Ichiraku. In a way, she was almost his everything, and he made sure that she had no clue.

There was no way in hell that Naruto would ever give anyone any reason to hurt Ayame, even if he had to act like a complete moron around her to push her away into a much safer sisterly role. He pretended to be clueless with girls in order to keep anyone from realizing how much he cared about the older girl. One would think that a harmless little crush, an innocent fancy of youth, puppy love… there was nothing wrong with it, right? When you have an entire village that pretends you do not exist, a village full of people who scorn you and glare at your back whenever you pass by, a village that would celebrate your death with a grand festival… would you want any of those people to know you might like someone, maybe love them? It would be better for her to keep her at arms length, no matter what.

As Naruto leapt across the roof tops over the alley ways to avoid the roof traffic of his fellow ninjas his hearing caught a string of curses and agitated yelling. He stopped on a dime when he caught sight of three shady looking men surrounding a shorter person, likely a civilian woman. None of them were ninjas, though the thugs looked pretty dangerous for any normal person. A cruel part of life was understanding that men like them existed in every dark corner of the world, even in places that were so proud of their morals like Konoha. Regardless of whom these men were harassing, Naruto wasn't going to let this kind of thing slide on his watch. He was just about to put his bag down before his eyes finally honed in on their victim.

Thump, thump…

 _Brown hair… white robe…_

Thump, thump…

 _Fair skin…_

"Ayame…" Something snapped in Naruto's mind when he saw her. When he saw the man ready to strike her, he felt his body grow warm, and his heart was beating rapidly.

 _What do you fight for? Why do you get stronger? The only way to truly grow strong… precious people._

Naruto had already thrown the weapon before his mind caught up with his body. He'd never been so accurate with his kunai and shuriken even after hours of practice when he was younger. Now, in a move faster than his body had ever been capable, he had thrown a shuriken with accuracy that even the mighty Uchiha Sasuke would have a hard time tracking with his precious baby Sharingan eyes. The blade caught the man in the neck with such force that the steel star had nearly cleaved right through to the other side. As he fell, the other men leapt into action while frantically searching the area for their attacker. The one holding Ayame threw her to the ground where she let out a pained yelp, her hand landing on some discarded glass from a crate nearby, possibly the recycling from the ramen shack. That did it.

Down below, Ayame was so surprised by the death of her attacker that she was unprepared to fall face first into the ground. Her instincts told her to cushion her fall with her hands, but that ended up doing more harm than good as her right hand was sliced open by a shard of glass from a broken sake bottle. She heard the men behind her scuffling about trying to spy their new enemy. She was aware it was a ninja, and thanked Kami for their timely arrival. She didn't care who it was, so long as she was safe from these men and their horrid plans to use her. The next words spoken by the two men brought her to reality and the hope she had before soared even higher.

"Fuck, it's the demon brat, look!" Grey shirt had finally spotted the boy atop the nearby shop roof wearing that god awful orange monstrosity. How the hell did it take him that long to spot the kid?

"He won't catch us off guard now that we see him, so let's go an-" Green shirt never got to finish his sentence as he was thrown forward by a flying kick from behind.

Grey shirt spun around and saw the blonde brat doing a back flip to get back to his feet from the sloppy drop kick he'd used on his comrade. Growling, the man lashed out with an even sloppier punch relying on brute strength to attack the boy. Let it be known that Naruto was never the best Taijutsu user in Konoha, but even his sloppy form and low Genin speed were enough to evade the thug's attacks. Grey shirt overextended a punch meant to drill through the blonde's head and met air. Naruto took the opening, crouched down, and then pushed off the ground to deliver the world's most earth shattering uppercut to the hulking man above him. The sickening crunch was enough to make Naruto gag, but the adrenaline was pushing him though his struggles. When the man landed his neck received the punishing brunt of gravity's unforgiving pull. It was likely the man would never get up again, but Naruto had no mercy for the man. With a puff of smoke, that Naruto vanished from sight.

The real Naruto was dancing around the thug in the green shirt when an unusual sense of satisfaction washed over him. It wasn't enough to distract him from the sluggish punches and kicks sent his way from the scumbag in front of him. He could tell the man was used to ending his fights quickly when he heard him panting and smelled the thick musk of sweat growing in the air. The blonde dodged one last attack while moving into the man's guard to deliver a punishing blow to his family jewels. Sure, it was a low blow, but considering what he was likely hoping to do with those… Naruto suddenly slammed another punch into those offending organs before grabbing the man by his collar. With all the force of an angry gorilla he sent the man into the wall nearby sending spider webs of cracks around the impact.

Green shirt was in so much pain that he could barely muster the strength to remain conscious. With all the willpower he had left he opened his eyes to stare into the cold and unforgiving blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto. He took a shallow breath in order to speak in stuttered words, "D-Demon… monster…"

Naruto let all of the emotions he was feeling release in a single punch to the man's chest effectively crushing his ribs and piercing his heart with the sharp shards of bones. As the man died slowly with his heart pumping blood into his chest cavity, he could just hear the boy speaking softly while darkness consumed him,

"I may be a demon… but at least it wasn't my choice. You chose to be a monster… and monsters deserve to be destroyed." The words brought painful memories from his past, but they were oddly satisfying when spoken to the piece of trash in front of him.

Ayame was watching from where she had fallen on the ground, not having the wherewithal to stand up. She had just seen three men brutally destroyed in less than a minute by a young boy she had always seen as a sweet and innocent kid. Naruto… the bundle of sunshine that brought life to their dull little ramen shack every day… had just killed for her. Her emotions were in a whirlwind of confusion as she let her eyes focus on the blonde boy currently standing over the crumpled body on the alley floor. She had just seen three deaths, three very harsh deaths to be sure, so a part of her felt sick. Then came the relief of being saved from a fate that far too many young women suffered every day, and knowing that the men would never be able to hurt someone like her ever again. And finally there was the morbid fascination with the oddly romantic feeling surrounding the whole event. There she was, a damsel in distress, no hope at all, when a knight in… orange armor swept in and unleashed righteous fury on the criminals to save her life. She might have blushed if she wasn't so conflicted.

As the adrenaline started to die down Naruto became all too aware of what he had done. Three men were dead… three men had died cursing his name. He looked down at his hands and even though they were perfectly clean, he could see blood. He fell to his knees and promptly lost control of his stomach. His vision blurred as each heave left his body feeling weaker and weaker. He could faintly hear a woman calling his name, a sweet voice that brought a brief smile to his lips. Colors and shapes swam slowly before he lost consciousness.

* * *

The first thing that Naruto became aware of was a chilling wetness that was saturating his clothes. The strange thing about the wetness was that he could tell he wasn't wet, even as his clothes grew cold and heavy with some kind of liquid. He couldn't smell anything, not even his own normal scent, which frightened him into opening his eyes and launching his body forward. He retched once as his head swam and he grew dizzy, but when he recovered his eyes grew wide in shock. Somehow he wound up in some kind of disgusting, dark sewer. Looking down he let loose a groan of frustration seeing his body waist deep in what was quite likely the filthiest water he had ever seen. It was about that time he realized that his entire body had been sautéing in the filth cocktail for Kami knows how long, and yet his upper body was dry. He stood up slowly and as each part of his body escaped the murky liquid he felt himself become dry, though somehow he knew he had simply never been wet.

"Okay… creepy sewer place where water is dry… the hell is wrong with you Uzumaki? Got to get it together…"

Naruto was broken from his self pep-talk by the sound of eerie growling coming from further down the sewer tunnel. As he looked around all he could see was utter darkness and that was something he could definitely do without, "Okay, this place could use some lights… like torches or-"

As the boy spoke the walls seemed to flex and blur before torches appeared out of solid metal. Each one was placed perfectly to cover just the right amount of space before their glow would start to dim. As if guided by his thoughts each torch burst to life with a warm orange glow illuminating the unimaginably long tunnel on either side of him. He saw no end to the flood waters plaguing his soggy feet and cursed his luck. Once again his silent prayers were answered as the water sank into drains spaced far enough apart to efficiently drain any possible floods. With the new light and lack of water it looked more like a creepy prison than a sewer.

" _ **Hmm… not as dim as I thought… though still pretty useless."**_

Naruto leapt and spun around as the deep and booming voice echoed around him, "Who's there?!"

Naruto felt the entire place rumble as he heard the same growl from before echo against the iron walls. Unlike last time this was more menacing, _**"Come, come and see…"**_ The strange request sounded amused, and was swiftly followed by a loud and unnerving cackle that sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

The walls seemed to shiver and morph as what was once a nearly endless tunnel to his right became much shorter. The newly reshaped tunnel ended close enough for the blonde to see a set of rusted metal stairs reflecting bits of light from the torches hung nearby. Ever the brave fool, Naruto walked down the hall listening to his footsteps on the cold stone floor. At the foot of the stairs he hesitated and listened as the loud and rough voice beckoned him further in. Swallowing his fear, Naruto climbed the steps into what he could see was a much larger room with only two torches illuminating the arch of the door he had just passed through. Looking around the darkness of the room he felt an odd foreboding, though he ignored it in favor of his curiosity. Spinning around during his small tour he felt his back bump into some kind of large wooden bar. When he turned it was just in time to feel a massive shock wave slam into his body and sent him sprawling back. When he had regained his bearings he saw the cause of his sudden displacement.

"I'm not really much for gambling… but I would put some Ryo down on you being the Kyuubi." Naruto said while getting back to his feet.

Standing just on the other side of the massive bar that Naruto had backed into was a massive for-like being with several thrashing tails buffeting the floor behind it. Naruto found it difficult to imagine this creature as a nine-tailed-fox simply because the thing had way too many non-foxy qualities, _**"I see your observational skills are as spectacular as ever…"**_

"What's with the bunny ears?" Naruto asked rather bluntly.

Said ears quirked in a very agitated fashion as the massive creature leveled his head to stare into the eyes of his container, _**"…What did you just say?"**_

"Well, you're supposed to be a big fox, so I was imagining these small, more triangular ears…" As if on cue Naruto sprouted a pair of classic fox ears which he could feel pushing his hair around. After inspecting them carefully he smiled and pointed to them, "Like these, see? Yours are all long like a bunny. Or would you prefer rabbit? Oh, maybe hare?!"

The overly large beast thrashed against the bars of his hell hole, _**"You little bastard! You dare mock me?! Do you have any idea what I could do to you!?"**_

Naruto by that point had his pinky in his still present fox ear cleaning it of imaginary wax, "Not sure if my parents were married so ya got me, yes I dare, and technically those bars seem to be doing a fine job of making sure you can do nothing to me."

' _ **This little bastard is still mocking me…'**_ The nine tailed beast was absolutely livid as he sat his massive haunch down with a resounding crash, _**"Incredible, you little cockroach… you have managed to gain my full ire within five minutes of out first meeting. I do not know whether to be impressed by it… never mind, my hate for you is so intense that there is no room for any other emotion in my entire being."**_

"Not sure what ire is, but I'm going to assume its bad. Whatever, not really a goal of mine to please you, oh mighty caged bunny-chan." Naruto pulled his finger from his ear with a resounding pop that would have been comical had he not been doing it deliberately to anger the fox, "Not that you're in the mood to answer questions right now, but if you were feeling generous… where the heck am I?"

" _ **If I were feeling generous I would tell you that this is a place referred to as a Mindscape, which is something that only Jinchuriki and masters of mind arts can boast an understanding of. You can figure out its functions on your own…"**_ The red beast grumbled lowly while laying its head down slowly to rest on giant paws, _**"You wound up here when you suffered severe emotional trauma. Believe me when I say that I was not pleased to find you invading my personal space…"**_

"Emotional what?" Naruto rubbed his chin as he thought about what the beast meant before he came to a sudden realization, "Oh right… I just murdered three people in a back alley."

" _ **You found your mate in danger and you protected her. There is no remorse to spare for filth that threatens one's vixen. Either get your priorities straight or forget about becoming a shinobi altogether. Your kind kill one another for pettier things than this…"**_

Naruto wasn't particularly sure what the monster meant by mate, but he was vaguely aware of the meaning behind the whole thing. Ayame was in danger, and those men deserved no mercy for their crime. Haku, rest his soul, had tried to help him understand this before his untimely death at the hands of Kakashi. In that moment where someone he considered one of his most precious people was in danger he lost all of his inhibitions and acted on pure instinct. He found strength he never knew he had in that instant, and with it he saved Ayame. The thought brought a small smile to his lips, and though the guilt of killing those men was still there, he would not regret his actions again. Looking up at the large beast he gave one of his foxy grins and a thumbs up as his body began to fade.

"You probably didn't mean to… but you really helped me out there, bunny-chan. Thank you…"

The great fox demon let a single eye open lazily to peer into the after image of his container before huffing indignantly, _**"I might actually like the little bastard if he weren't so insufferable… also, I can never let him speak that horrible name in front of Matatabi, or Kami help me…"**_

* * *

Naruto found the experience of waking up slowly becoming a bit monotonous as the day wore on. If it weren't for the pleasant aroma of ramen in the air and the incredibly comfortable pillow he would have probably cursed his misfortune. As it were, this particular awakening was pleasant enough to let last as long as he could pretend to be asleep. As he adjusted his head so that he could bury his face into his wonderful pillow he caught a new scent that quickly overwhelmed the ramen in the air. This scent was sweet… it reminded him of the vanilla tea that the old man would drink whenever the two of them met up for breakfast on Sundays. He knew he'd smelled it somewhere else, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. In an effort to get another whiff of the scent he buried his face into the pillow as deep as he could and took a few sniffs. A small giggle alerted him to his surroundings and helped to jolt his memory back to full capacity.

 _A younger Ayame was excitedly going on and on about her father allowing her to wear perfume now that she had become a teenager at thirteen. She offered her wrist to a young Naruto so that he could smell it and his eyes glazed over a little. Her giggles woke him from his small stupor in time for him to cheer dramatically for his sister figure, "You smell delicious Ayame-nee!"_

As the memories of his younger voice echoed though his head he dared to open his right eye and peek out at the world around him. A quick scan told him he was in the small storage room built into the back of Ramen Ichiraku. The kitchen nearby was abuzz with activity as Teuchi was no doubt hard at work maintaining the cooking and the waiting. He knew the old man was probably doing both jobs the moment his eye turned to view his pillow… or pillows. There, right in front of his face and pressed against his cheek, was the developed chest of his favorite ramen waitress in the world, a white robe the only barrier he was aware of between his face and their... His brain decided to go off for several seconds as all of the blood in his body rushed to his skin so that his entire face lit up in a heavy blush. Without calm and rational thought his body reacted on instinct ingrained into him by every interaction he'd ever had with a woman: he panicked.

The boy flew away from the waitress like lightning before cowering in a ball at the foot of the mattress they were on. He was only slightly aware that the two of them were on the futon Teuchi kept in back for nights when the late crowd kept him busy passed closing and he didn't want to chance walking home. He was in a low bow with his face pressed into the mattress and his eyes closed tightly. His hands were held together at the palms in hopes of painting a picture of remorse and pity. His entire body was shaking as he awaited the thrashing Ayame would give him for his actions. Imagine his surprise when Ayame suddenly lifted him up from his deep bow to hug the life out of him. His clumsy mouth was opening and closing in an attempt to articulate something, but before he could make a fool of himself he felt her body start to shiver.

Naruto knew what was happening, at least he thought he knew. Ayame, sweet and innocent as she was, was crying against his shoulder with her arms holding onto him tightly. Naruto remembered all of the times that he'd been in her position crying his eyes out into her shoulder. The blonde wrapped his arms around Ayame slowly so that he wouldn't shock her, and then he gave the young woman a warm squeeze to assure her that he was there. He didn't know how long she wept, nor did he care really, what mattered was that Ayame wanted to be held and he would never refuse her. In time her sobbing calmed down and then finally she let her arms loosen enough for Naruto to sit back a little and look down into her face. Her face was red, as were her eyes, though she was still as beautiful as she always was.

"Thank you…" Ayame's voice was much softer than he ever remembered hearing. She sounded several years younger than she was. That innocence was still there, thanks to him…

Naruto gave her one of his rare genuine smiles full of warmth and affection, "Any time, Ayame-chan."

Whether it was the radiance of his smile or the use of such an affectionate honorific she didn't know, but she couldn't help feeling all of her anxiety and fear fade away. She let a choked giggle escape as she settled into Naruto further, enjoying simply having someone to hold onto. If she were completely honest with anyone she had a little crush on the younger teen, though she wasn't much in the mood to think much on it after what happened earlier in the day. Even though she had gotten away without those men actually committing the act she still felt dirty… tainted. A thousand and one doubts had been plaguing her all afternoon as she held the sleeping blonde. Who would want her when she had been touched by those savages? Would Naruto look at her differently knowing how weak and powerless she'd been? That smile of his though… it washed away all those negative thoughts like the first spring rain.

"Ayame-chan… I'm sorry if what I did… if I disturbed you earlier. I wasn't thinking, I just acted on instinct and-" Naruto tried to explain away his crimes in hopes of repairing whatever was left of their relationship but he was interrupted by Ayame's soft fingers pressing on his lips to silence him.

The young waitress sat up slowly until her head was a little above his own thanks to her greater height. She let her hand fall as she looked into his eyes with a tear streak smile that nearly broke his heart as much as its beats to skip, "No, Naruto-kun, don't apologize for anything… what kind of hero apologizes to the princess for slaying the trolls, huh?"

The lingering doubts left behind after leaving the fox's domain left Naruto as if he'd been holding his breath and was finally allowed to exhale. He would have said something, a bit of gratitude for her kind words, a small joke to settle the mood, something naïve and idiotic which was the most likely… but he never got the chance as her next move left him stunned. Ayame held both his cheeks in her hands with her thumbs gently caressing the faint whisker marks that adorned his face. In the next second his breath caught in his throat when he felt her warm lips touch on his forehead. If it were possible then Naruto's ears would surely have been spewing out high pressure steam as his eyes glazed over. A moment later he fell over unconscious with a goofy grin on his face.

The whole thing left Ayame in a fit of gentle laughter as she held onto the limp young teen in her arms, "Boys…"

* * *

The next morning found Naruto standing before the imposing man that was Ichiraku Teuchi. Not a word had been spoken between the two of them since the boy woke up with the man staring down at him though narrowed eyelids. Naruto wasn't sure how badly he was going to be torn into for killing those thugs the day before, but as long as he wasn't banished from the ramen shack then he would willingly take whatever old man Teuchi sent his way. When the older man made his move Naruto stood strong and didn't flinch, which was good because it would have been awkward for Teuchi to try hugging him if he had moved away. Yes, Naruto was being smothered in the overzealous arms of a very enthusiastic father while trying to avoid being soaked by the rivers of tears flowing down the chef's cheeks.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you my boy~! I always knew the Ramen Gods sent you my way for a higher purpose! After years of nurturing your body and soul with the Food of the Gods I finally see… you saved my sweet Ayame-hime my boy! I can't express how grateful I am… how thankful…" Teuchi's voice lost its youthful vigor as he finally let the mask break down to reveal the kind hearted, simple father buried beneath his ramen lust façade. Being a single father he always had to be strong enough to cover those extra bases that his wife was no longer around to handle. To cope with his stress he developed the man who most knew behind the counter: happy-go-lucky Teuchi with his eccentricities and his obsession with ramen. Beneath it all he was just another man trying to be a good father and make his wife proud by raising his baby to be someone great. No one ever asked how he was handling it all, just so long as they got their quick lunch or dinner. Right then as he broke down while holding onto the young boy that he had practically helped raise along with his little girl and the Sandaime he let it all out, he let the wall down, and he thanked Kami that she had delivered that little four year old child to his shop. Without him, he might not have Ayame anymore.

Naruto couldn't help the single tear that fell while he held onto the emotional older man, "Like I told Ayame-chan, any time. I promise, and you know me old man."

Teuchi stood up slowly before wiping his face with his apron, "Hai, I know you Naruto-kun… you never go back on your promises." A bright smile spread across his older face before he clapped his hand down on the boy's shoulder, "Come, get some ramen in you, you slept right passed lunch and dinner yesterday. All you can eat, on the house."

"All right old man, you're the greatest!" Naruto exclaimed while whooping in joy. Teuchi simply laughed at the blonde's enthusiasm as led the pair of them out of the storage room and out into the kitchen. Naruto was quick to dash out of the kitchen and around the luncheonette to snag his favorite stool.

Ayame soon walked into the side door with her arms full of bags and when she spotted the blonde she smiled brightly, "There you are, finally awake I see." She gave a small wink before walking back into the kitchen to deposit the groceries.

Naruto wasn't sure why that little wink made him blush, and he was fairly certain he didn't want to know. Instead of dwelling on it he settled down to wait for his food while busying himself with a list of things that he wanted to work on while on his little training trip. The delay of having to wait an extra day was only slightly annoying, though saving someone he cared about was worth the lost time. He was so engrossed in his thinking that he never noticed Ayame sneaking up in front of him to lean over the counter and peek at his handy work, "What you got there?"

Naruto jumped a little before looking up and immediately blushing when he saw Ayame on her tip toes and leaning forward toward him. While her eyes were on the paper his eyes were staring down her slightly loose fitting robes that were puffed up enough for him to get a decent view down her shirt. Normally her conservative attire would be more than enough to hide such assets from view, but Ayame rarely ever had to lean so far over the counter. Before he could get caught being an idiot he shook himself out of his stupor to reply to the question she had posed moments ago, "Huh…? Oh, this! This is my first list of things I need to work on for the Chuunin Exam Finals."

Ayame's eyes lit up in realization, "Right! I never got the chance to congratulate you Naruto-kun! We were so proud of you when we heard the news!"

Teuchi walked out of the back carrying several bowls of ramen on his arms in the way that only a fine and seasoned chef could, "What's all this hollering about out here?" He grinned at Naruto when he got a small smack on the head with a light towel.

"I was congratulating our favorite customer on his advancement to the Chuunin Exam Finals, baka~!" Ayame's voice was playful as she teased her dad in their usual banter.

Teuchi smiled brightly as he remembered hearing the news from a couple of his usual Chuunin customers, "That's right, hey, congratulations brat we knew you had it in the bag the moment you came here for breakfast the morning of the first day."

Naruto put on his usual sheepish grin while trying to laugh off the praise, "Even a loser can be a winner with Ichiraku ramen in their stomachs, haha!"

Ayame gave the younger boy another small wink while beaming at the blonde, "First we'll need to find a loser to test that before we can work it into our ads, _Naruto-kun._ "

Teuchi walked back to the kitchen the moment he heard the teasing tone his daughter used while trying to rile the boy up. That was a dangerous female weapon that no man could resist, so Kami have mercy when he died from the blood loss he was surely going to suffer. Though… the idea of his daughter boldly flirting with a boy… nah, she would never.

Naruto, completely oblivious, blushed madly regardless of his lack of comprehension. He had never been given much praise, and there was a severe lack of kindness between he and his teammates on a regular basis. For Ayame to even insinuate he wasn't a loser had set him off into feeling suddenly bashful, "Ne, Ayame-chan, you don't have to kid around ya know?"

In a flash that Naruto was certain a Jonin would be hard pressed to evade, Ayame had snatched a pair of tongs from Kami knows where and used them to grip the front of his jacket. She had him yanked nearly over the counter with his feet kicking wildly behind him in a desperate attempt to regain some kind of balance. Next thing he knew she was mere inches away from his face and looking into his eyes with a deadly glint to her dark irises. When she spoke her voice was a deadly sweet tone that dripped with venom, or high fructose corn syrup, not much difference really…

"Naruto-kun… what were you just saying?"

Naruto felt a chill as he started back into Ayame's eyes, "Oh… you know… just idle chit chat."

"Idle chit chat?"

"…Idle chit chat."

"Calling yourself a loser?"

Naruto gulped. "Calling myself a loser…?"

"Are you?"

"N-no…"

"Good, because that would be bad."

"H-how bad?" Naruto's replies were becoming more meek as the exchange went on.

"I'd have to cut off your ramen."

Naruto visibly paled while his brow moistened, "That's bad."

Ayame smiled all too innocently, "Indeed." And with that she gave his cheek a soft kiss before releasing him. The boy fell back in a messy heap on the floor, appendages at odd angles and a look of despair on his face.

"Do I want to know what just happened out there?" Teuchi asked while peeking around the door frame at his daughter where she was seated on her stool to await customers.

"Just doing my part to help boost Naru-kun's confidence and self esteem." Ayame replied sweetly causing the older man to shiver in slight fear.

* * *

Eventually Naruto was able to escape Ramen Ichiraku, though if he were honest he had no intention of resisting Ayame's attempts to keep him from leaving. His announcement that he would be traveling outside the village had not gone over as smoothly with her as he had first thought. He wasn't sure if it was the incident the day before or not, but the girl seemed very protective of him, almost possessive. It took several promises of weekly letters and updates to convince the girl that he could go, never mind her almost up and going with him to keep him safe. Teuchi had to put his foot down then both to help the poor boy as well as keep the girl from putting herself in harm's way. Naruto was a good boy, but he was a shinobi, and shinobi often attract all manner of trouble whenever they set foot outside their home village.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly all things considered, Naruto's journey back to the Land of Waves was so peaceful that he had no qualms about traveling at civilian's pace. Without the constant need to keep alert for the sake of a helpless client he was able to admire the beauty of the Land of Fire along the main road. On his last trip to Wave Sakura was the only one among them with the liberty to admire her surroundings, though that had merely been her civilian tendencies kicking in at the wrong time. Eventually the girl came through for the team, but just barely. Now that he was free to behave like a child, he could see where the trees of Konoha ended and the natural forests began. He could smell the difference of scents as he neared the ocean. As he shifted between the two different regions he saw the wild life thin out and exchange for those who thrive off the more humid area near the coast. It took about a day and a half of walking to reach the border of the Land of Fire.

Naruto stopped when he saw the dense fog of the area drifting lazily to and fro, the sun above eagerly trying to break through. The distant cry of gulls in the air echoed life into the dreary darkness. Squinting his eyes he could barely make out any shapes ahead, but with time a structure slowly came into view. The boy smiled brightly when he recognized the familiar bridge, the few positive memories of his time helping build the thing with his team. With a burst of excitement Naruto ran toward the bridge before crossing at a much more sedate pace. Unlike the first time crossing the water by boat he could hear signs of life in the mist below. There were men shouting and laughing on fishing boats, the sounds of ropes and splashing as fishing nets were pulled on decks.

Naruto stopped when he found the end of the bridge, his eyes bugging out a bit when he spotted a sign above the large arch, "Great Naruto Bridge… you have go to be shitting me. That's both awesome… and really embarrassing…" The boy couldn't help rubbing the back of his head.

Out of nowhere a football flew through the air and straight into his face making him fall back on his rump with a yelp. His face grew red while he rubbed his aching nose and cheeks, "Gah, the hell!? Is something going to come flying at me every time I come to this country?!"

Just as the boy was recovering from the fall and attempting to get back to his feet he felt something slam into his midsection forcing the air out of him. He was barely aware of the loud voice crying out just before impact, "Naruto-nii!"

"Inari-kun, don't run off like that boy! The bridge is no place to pla- Naruto boy!?" An older voice called out bringing Naruto out of his daze.

Hobbling out of the fog ahead was an older man with visibly grey hair and shaggy beard, glasses on his nose, and a straw hat covering his head. Like the last time Naruto had seen him he was wearing a sleeveless v-neck shirt colored a dull blue, tan pants, and a pair of comfortable civilian style sandals. The newest addition to his ensemble was a sleeveless white haori with the symbol of Wave sewn into the left breast. Around his waist was an obi fastened slightly to the right of his gut with several tool pouches within easy reach. Now that he had come into view Naruto could see the happy grin on his face and the sign of recognition in his eyes, "Well, well, it is you, ya brat. Couldn't stay away from ol' Tazuna for long, eh?"

Naruto looked from old Tazuna down to the bundle of energy trying to squeeze the life out of him and he couldn't help his goofy grin from shining through, "What can I say, old man? Wave grew on me, hehe. Inari, you've gotten stronger since I left, haven't you?" Naruto knew it hadn't been long enough for the boy to grow much, but he definitely seemed healthier and much happier, for which he was very glad.

Inari looked up with an equally goofy grin that only a child his age could rightly get away with, "Mhm! Kaa-chan says that the Market is selling all kinds of good food now that the trade ships and wagons can get here! It's just like Grandpa always said!"

Tazuna stopped in front of the duo and loosed a booming laugh full of warmth, something that not too long ago would likely have been hollow or nonexistent, "Yes my boy, I always told you things would look up once we got this here bridge back up! Never doubt the Great Bridge Builder Tazuna!"

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes, though he did crack a small smile for the old man. It seemed everyone he met was some kind of eccentric character in one way or another, "I'm glad to hear the people are doing better. I can't wait to see the town!"

Tazuna chuckled a bit darkly, "As long as we're quick. Tsunami hears you're in town and we didn't bring you right over, she'll tan all of our hides."

Inari and Naruto both shared a quick look before shivering. There was nothing quite like the fury of a mother…

Unsurprisingly the town had made a complete one-eighty from the dreadful state it had been in during his last visit to Wave. The people were full of life, smiling and laughing, children running left and right, couples taking strolls down the main road, everything was so warm. What shops had been around before were fully stocked and remodeled with fresh paint and brand new signs, and several new shops had opened up with all new manner of merchandize. Naruto noticed that a new school building had opened up where both children and adults seemed to be attending civilian courses. All in all, the people of Wave were back on their feet and making a dead sprint to a bigger and better tomorrow.

There was one thing that Naruto wasn't sure how to handle as he made his observations… everyone was staring at him. Now, as the Demon Brat of Konoha, Naruto was all too familiar with being the center of attention. Of course, that kind of attention came in the form of glares, sneers, and all manner of insulting whispered comments. Over the years he had grown used to the negativity of others and simply ignored everyone in favor of more pleasant thoughts. The people of Wave weren't glaring, or making faces, or grumbling about his stench, or cursing the ground he walked on. These people were staring at him with a mix of awe, approval, admiration, and in the case of several girls his age, affectionate curiosity. To anyone else they might feel a little bashful, but for Naruto the whole thing made him extremely uncomfortable and his companions were slowly becoming aware of the fact.

"Naruto-nii, what's wrong?" Inari asked quietly, afraid the young ninja was detecting some kind of trouble. Tazuna heard his grandson and couldn't help shake his head at the naïve child.

Naruto looked down at Inari and forced a big grin, "N-nothing, Inari, sorry for worrying you…"

The boy didn't seem convinced if his dead pan look was anything to go by, but Naruto's following nervous laugh gave him enough understanding that the older blonde wasn't going to talk about it. The elder among them smiled softly when he saw his grand child maturely leave the ninja be. It was good to see that he was capable of understanding, though it was sad to know Inari's childish curiosity had been outgrown so early in life. It was a miracle the boy was still able to run and play and have fun with his friends after everything that their people had been through… what Inari had been through. Letting his old eyes drift back to the blonde walking beside his grandson he smiled. That boy and his friends… they stopped his grandson from losing it all, and he would never be able to repay them.

Before long the trio entered the familiar yard of Tazuna's home. Inari dashed forward to quickly fetch his mother while Naruto and Tazuna chuckled at his enthusiasm. With the smallest gone Tazuna placed an old hand on Naruto's shoulder stalling his progress and causing the young teen to look at him questioningly. Tazuna let out a soft sigh before looking the boy in the eyes.

"Tell me, brat, what was that back there? You looked like you were about to be sick." Tazuna's tone left no room for evasion tactics.

Naruto could only maintain eye contact for a few moments before looking at his feet, "Everyone was watching me… I don't know how to feel about it, ya know? Like, back home everyone is usually really angry or disgusted, and I know why they do it… regardless, I am used to being hated. Those people back there were all smiling and waving… that one elderly man even bowed. I just don't get why they would act that way…"

Tazuna hummed softly, his older voice making it sound almost like a low growl, "Listen here boy… I don't know what goes on back in your village. This would be the second time that you've mentioned your mistreatment back there, and frankly I want to know why… but I will respect your privacy and not bring it up unless you do. The fact of the matter is that whatever nonsense takes place back in Konoha has no effect on the people here, you hear? You rallied these people together when not a one of them had any fight left. You brought hope to their hearts and now… now we're free, and even if you weren't the one to rid us of that monster… well, they love you. We love you, brat, for what you did for Inari. You personally saved my daughter, and you motivated that enemy ninja to change his ways and hold off that evil man and his army long enough for everyone to fight back.

You're the Hero of Wave whether you want to be or not, right up there with Kaiza and every other brave soul who fought, bled, and in some cases died to save this country. You better get used to the happy people watching you, the groups of children asking for your autograph, and even the packs of rabid teen girls hoping to sign marriage contracts with ya."

Naruto had been on the verge of tears during the entire little speech and even though it was just as cheesy as one of his own… it moved him. Thankfully Tazuna eased the mood back to normal with his last comment and a very comical wiggling of his pinky finger that caused both man and teen to burst into laughter. Naruto wiped the lone tear from his eye as his fit wore down, and then he swung his head around when he heard a feminine squeal coming from the front of Tazuna's home. Tsunami, just as pretty as she had been before he left, was glowing as she took short, quick strides across the lawn toward them. Warning bells went off just before Naruto was brought into a back breaking hug by the older woman, his face smothered into her chest in a very compromising fashion while his arms and legs flailed about in desperation.

Tazuna chuckled viciously while watching from the side as his daughter cooed gleefully, "Naruto~! It's so good to see you back! And so soon! Inari-chan hasn't stopped talking about you since you left."

Naruto went limp when the realization sunk in that there would be no escape from the valley of death, "If knife do fee you too, Funami-fan…" Inari and Tazuna were trying and failing to keep their laughter under control as they heard the blonde's muffled voice.

Tsunami finally let the boy loose only to hold his cheeks in her hands so that she could look deeply into his eyes with a scrutinizing glare. Her next few actions had him spluttering and squirming in her grip. First the devil woman somehow yanked his orange jacket off while sucking her teeth and observing the many holes and stains. When the fool lunged for his jacket he was caught in her iron grip as she examined his old shirt and all the damage it had suffered during missions and training. By the time she was done she'd snagged his entire jump suit and his shirt leaving him in only his mesh shirt, chibi fox print boxer shorts, and his shinobi sandals.

"I will be taking these and all your other clothes for proper cleaning and repairs. No arguments!" Tsunami glared menacingly at the boy who was half way to shouting, "And you need to have a proper meal, look at you! Practically skin and bones!"

"Hey now, I have muscles!" Naruto attempted to put on a gun show, but his young body was hardly developed enough and due to his malnutrition he might as well have been showing off underinflated balloons.

Tsunami watched as the young shinobi sank to his knees despondently, a mysterious cloud of dark rain forming above his spiky blonde hair, "Right… I will be inside preparing some food. Be inside before you catch a cold or so help me, the sniffles will be the least of your worries…"

"Women are scary, huh Grandpa?" Inari questioned while hiding his face behind his football.

"Well…" Tazuna started to speak before an eerie chill sent shivers down his spine. When he turned toward the house he couldn't see beyond the darkness of the front door, though a set of red eyes sparkled dangerously from within. He began to sweat before quickly replying, "N-no, Inari-kun, they just care very, very much…"

The chill lifted rather suddenly before both grandfather and grandson nodded to one another. The duo each grabbed one of Naruto's feet before dragging him toward the house. Gurgles and sad moans followed the blonde along with a visible trail of despair in the form of dark water pooling in his wake.

* * *

"So you'll be staying here in Wave for a month, eh boy? Have you got any plans for this training of yours?" Tazuna lifted a saucer of sake to his lips before tossing it back, a huge step up from the large gulps he once took straight from the ceramic bottle.

Naruto was eating a healthy portion of stir fried vegetables, white rice, and a side of miso soup under the watchful eyes of Tsunami. His clothes were all in the wash and would be ready by the next morning to be sure that every stain was seen to and every bit of damage was sufficiently repaired. He looked up from his bowl of soup to respond, making sure to swallow first to avoid a swat from Tsunami and her dreaded dish towel, "Nothing specific yet, just a schedule that I hope to follow as soon as I settle down. I am way behind, and I need to really buckle down and work myself to the bone. There is this massive as- butt hole…" He'd paused when he heard a small growl from behind him, "…that I need to defeat in the first round and to be completely honest… not entirely sure I can do it."

Tazuna hummed quietly while wracking his brain for anything he could offer the boy to help him alone. Wave wasn't a militaristic country so they had very little to offer in combat training and even less in terms of unique equipment to give him an edge. Tsunami chose that moment to speak up with her normal pleasant tone, "Tou-san, what about all of those scrolls you found in Gato's old weapons cache? You said you were going to leave them there until we could find proper buyers, so they must still be there."

"Tsunami-chan, you're a genius! Wait right here, boy." Tazuna corked his sake before shuffling off into a room deeper in the house.

Naruto finished off his soup with a smack of his lips and a deep, satisfied sigh, "That was so good… Gah!" He leapt when a fresh bowl was placed down along with a hunk of very fresh looking bread. When he looked around at Tsunami he could see passed her sweet smile to the mother lioness within.

"A growing boy must eat enough to remain healthy and strong, Naruto-kun. I trust we have an understanding, and I won't have to get the food processor, right?"

"A-absolutely not, Tsunami-san!" Naruto let loose a small squeak when the woman flashed next to him with grace that most kunoichi would kill for, "I-I mean, y-yosh! I'll eat every bite, Tsunami-san- Ahck! Tsunami-chan!" Naruto was eyeing a very intimidating ladle that had appeared an inch from his nose.

Once the boy had submitted and used the more affectionate term he was released from her righteously indignant aura. Knowing that the woman was nearby he dove into his fresh food with reckless abandon and even finished the vegetables he'd been given. Those were replaced just as his soup had been, but he chose the lesser of two evils and continued to eat without complaint. On the inside he was utterly confused and wondering if every woman in his life was going to be violently forceful. This of course caused several women across the elemental nations to sneeze in tandem, though none of them would ever realize this, and neither would Naruto for that matter.

Just as he was finishing up the last of his forced rations Tazune strode in with a large map rolled up under his right arm. Seeing the man's burden Naruto was quick to remove his empty dishes so that the table would be clear for Tazuna to spread out the map. Of course Tsunami snatched the dishes away and promptly replaced them with a single plate of sweet dumplings in a caramel sauce. Try as he might, Naruto wasn't in a position to protest, so he settled down to watch Tazuna struggle with the stubborn map roll that kept trying to roll back up each time he spread a corner flat. Inari watched from the side with his own little bowl of dumplings while his grandfather let loose a string of cleverly veiled curses.

"Son of a witch, piece of sheet rock… you mother thumping… gah!" Tazuna lost his temper and grabbed several items from around the kitchen to hold down the stubborn corners while everyone giggled or sniggered.

"Whoa, this is a really detailed map old man! Is this all of Wave?" Naruto asked curiously after swallowing down a large lump of his sugary treat.

Tazuna smirked while his eye twinkled in delight, "Indeed it is brat. This map was commissioned by the former Daimyo of Wave before he was exiled by Gato. The cartographer was a man known as Tadataka-sensei, the first man to map out the entirety of the Elemental Nations before his death some twenty years ago. We recovered it from that despicable mansion Gato had built after he burned the former Daimyo's palace to the ground. Thank Kami the arrogant slime ball was too lazy to actually go through his ill gotten gains, lest he might have sold this to one of those big time collectors in one of the capitals. Here…" Tazuna used his glasses to pinpoint the location carefully while keeping his hat away from the light. His wrinkled finger finally stopped beside a small picture of an ornate fountain, though the size of the little image left much to be desired, "…this is the spot where we found the cache that Gato left behind. You'd never figure there was anything there, but those of us native to Wave know this island like none other.

You'll find a waterfall there, not too big mind you, but enough to conceal a small cave behind the rushing water and mist. Inside is where we found the mess of crates and barrels full of spears, swords, and various stolen scrolls and such. Bunch of it is definitely shinobi mumbo jumbo, all of them had the symbol for Kirigakure on them. We would have sent word to them, maybe get on their good side and set up some trade deals, but that damn civil war going on over there would bring nothing but trouble our way, so we were going to wait a while before trying to sell them."

Naruto had no idea about any civil war in Kiri so he was a bit excited and prone to moving off topic, "Wait, Kiri is in a civil war? And how did a bunch of their stuff get here?"

Tazuna decided to humor the boy since he seemed so eager, "Yes, their civil war has been going on for a long while. Don't know much of the details, but refugees wandering the mainland used to talk about some kind of… genocide going on. Rule of thumb is to ask no questions if you don't want trouble, so I'm afraid that's all we know for sure. As to how that stuff wound up in that cave, Gato must have been making illegal trades with one side or the other, or he could have even been buying the stuff from the black market. Plenty of people out there would steal and sell just about anything, regardless of how dishonorable it may be."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. To a ninja village every technique is a precious resource that must never leave the village no matter what. In Konoha alone only the most mundane and widely known techniques are even available in the Shinobi Library. Anything truly powerful is kept under heavy lock and key and can only be made available by commissioning a copy from the Hokage. There are a lot of steps and blue tape, but Naruto was only a Genin so he had yet to see the truly fearsome beast that was Konoha bureaucracy.

"The location is about three hours on foot from here, northwest. I would recommend heading there in the morning due to your current lack of clothes…" Inari chuckled from the side while Naruto looked dejected, "…in the meantime you are welcome to stay here for the duration of the month. Tsunami would cut me with a rusty spoon if I didn't offer."

* * *

With the plans settled the family, plus one, spent the remainder of the day catching up. Naruto had very little to share since their last meeting, so he mainly listened to all of the progress Tazuna had made cleaning up the mess left by Gato and his empire of sin. Listening to the old man go on about all the repairs, all the interesting things his men had found hidden around the small island nation, and his general distaste for everything that remotely reminded him of Gato was highly entertaining. Inari spent some time talking about the school that the town had built to promote education in the recently poverty stricken country. Tsunami spent her time simply listening in between trips to check on her laundry. To Naruto's embarrassment she brought one of his pairs of spare underwear out to repair a few holes caused by his heavy training sessions. When the sun went down into the western sky Naruto was immediately sent to bed like some kind of child, and although he did protest the whole thing… it was nice to have someone give a damn.

The blonde woke the next morning in a cold sweat with a kunai held firmly in his right palm. Judging by the window near his bed it was probably about five in the morning, which caused him to groan in frustration. It had been another nightmare from his youth… another in a slew of nightmares that forced him to never forget the demons of his past regardless of how much better things had gotten since Iruka gave him his headband. Resigned to an early rise from his comfortable bed he slipped out of the comfortable blankets to search for something to wear. His wandering about looking for clothes ended rather abruptly when he tripped over his pack effectively tipping over a neat stack of bright white shirts and surprisingly vibrant orange pants.

"When did Tsunami have time to…" Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine just before he spun around to face the very woman who's name had just slipped passed his lips.

Tsunami was holding a tray of food that could easily feed several people and he had a sinking feeling that she expected him to eat it all alone, "Good morning, Naruto-kun… you weren't thinking of trying to slip away early before everyone was awake and settle for a ramen cup for breakfast… right?~"

Naruto watched the woman tilt her head to the side with a gentle smile on her lips, but he wasn't fooled. This woman was teetering on the edge of sanity with all of her motherly instincts going haywire. Was it endearing? Yes, yes it was. Was he comfortable with her overzealous dedication to doting after him? That would be a huge negative. Was he fool enough to try and persuade her to stop? There aren't enough languages in the world to express how much 'no' he would like to convey towards that idea.

"Of course not, Tsunami-sa-" Cue menacing growl, "-chan… I would have just washed up and… waited, 'ttebayo…?"

"That's what I thought, now eat up, then take a proper bath, and I will have your clothes ready for the day." Tsunami sounded far too pleased with herself as she set down the slightly overflowing tray of vittles and left as swiftly as she had appeared, or so he figured.

"Damn… how do I keep meeting such weird people…? And are all women so-…" Naruto heard something that sounded eerily like a kitchen knife being yanked free from some kind of polished wood. He let his last comment just die right there before diving into his breakfast with abandon, hoping to Kami that the action would sooth the savage woman.

* * *

What was supposed to have taken about three hours had easily stretched over five when Naruto realized that he'd been using a broken compass. After traveling for well over an hour the positioning of the sun overhead brought sudden realization crumbling down on the blonde. How could one have a broken compass one may ask? This was no ordinary compass, nay this particular compass was in the possession of one Uzumaki Naruto. Out side the ill reputed dens of gambling, the kid just never had any luck. Having traveled an hour all ready, and then back tracking had eaten up another hour, and of course Tsunami held him up for another half hour to eat what the woman considered a proper lunch. Naruto wasn't sure where he was putting all the food the woman was pushing on him, and the idiot was conveniently unaware of just how much ramen he often wolfed down on a daily basis.

Currently the young teen was slicing his way through incredibly thick shrubs while trying to keep his path straight. Even a fool like him found it odd that the forest was so overgrown when a team of men had supposedly been emptying out the weapon cache only recently. Between the humidity, the relentless insects swarming for a taste of Uzumaki blood, and the near endless greenery blocking his path his, patience was wearing thin. With a great huff the blond brought down his kunai to end the lives of several thick vines only to slump forward when he saw the next thick bundle of leafy barricade in his way not three yards away.

"Grr… this… this is not funny anymore." With a menacing growl and a deadly glint in his eye Naruto was suddenly surrounded by a horde of thirty exact copies, all of whom sported identical crazed expressions.

"Charge!" A chorus of loud obnoxious screams tore through the peaceful forest as the small platoon of identical ninjas ripped, sliced, and stumbled their way through every barricade that lay before them. Families of small animals scattered before their indignant fury.

In what would later be described as roughly an hour the bumbling buffoon brigade fell into disarray when their group broke through the final bit of resistance into a large clearing. Thirty shouting teens suddenly exploded into a large cloud of rather thick clouds that left their originator coughing lightly.

"I really need to learn how to suppress that weird smoke stuff…" Naruto's monologue stopped when he saw the waterfall near the northern edge of the clearing cascading down into a slow flowing river below. It wasn't a particularly large waterfall, but the mist created by the descending rush of water was enough to create small bits of color in the air. Everything around the waterfall seemed full of life, as if the area was a source of some kind of weird natural magic, even if there was no such thing. If the trip there hadn't been such a huge, undeniable pain in the ass he might had admired the area for it's beauty a bit longer, but Naruto wasn't known for his patience, and there were several super amazing technique scrolls just waiting for him behind that waterfall…

"Wait… this might not even be the right one… how many waterfalls are there in Wave?" Naruto took a moment to squint his eyes in irritation. Overhead the faint cries of a crow calling out something eerily similar to 'baka' could be heard, "To hell with it, Kami knows I need a break anyway. If it's not there I'll just rest a while and keep going."

Naruto readjusted the bag on his shoulder before walking over to the large pool of water at the base of the waterfall. If he knew how to walk on water like his sensei he might have had an easier time finding a way behind the fast falling shower. That being said, he had to conduct his search using the slow method, but luck was on his side when he found an easily climbable group of rocks on his side of the pond. As he made his way up the slippery stones he could see the darkness of a cave ahead and he mentally cheered. With the hard part behind him it would be smooth sailing from here on out…

 _ **Fwoosh! Hum-~**_

"The hell is this now?!" Naruto exclaimed from just inside the entrance of the cave.

In true Naruto fashion, the teen walked confidently into the cave without any hesitation, a regular cock on the walk swagger to his step. As if on some kind of morbid cue line of possible things to ruin his day the entrance to the cave had erupted in a flash of blue before erecting a large barrier of energy. Even Naruto knew not to try touching it when he noticed the water drops sizzling into oblivion whenever they had the misfortune to bounce toward it off the rocks outside. Now some might panic in such a precarious position, while others may rationalize and try to form a plan of escape, but Naruto was a special kind of person. Naruto wasn't a coward, but he wasn't a thinker either… no, he was a brave, stupid idiot.

"Can't scare me, you hear?! I came here to get strong, and no stupid… blue… thing… is going to stop me!" He gave the energy barrier a rather rude hand gesture before turning and walking further down the cramped tunnel.

After a half hour of bumbling about in the dark cave with nothing but a few slowly fading glow sticks it became pretty clear that the stock of old ninja scrolls was utterly useless. In retrospect, it made total sense that rogue or even rebellious ninja would save their best and sell only low level techniques to clueless civilians. Then again this _was_ Naruto after all, so he wouldn't have thought of that on a good day. Feeling lost and dejected the boy slumped down against the back wall of the cave, huffing as he threw his bag to the side.

"Dang it… I was really hoping there would be something super cool here to help me train…~" He'd decided to go full crybaby while rivers of tears ran down his cheeks. As if to further salt the wound of his shattered dreams his current glow stick decided to die casting darkness all around him again, "Damn these stupid things… stupid shop selling me old crap all the time… stupid everything!"

Naruto sighed heavily and berated himself for acting like a child for possibly the hundredth time that day. Sobering up with a few slaps to his cheeks he shook himself of anymore immature thoughts to focus on the situation at hand. Reaching around behind him into the pouch he kept on the back of his belt he rummaged around for another of his low quality glow sticks only to accidentally cut himself on some razor wire he kept for emergencies. This of course brought on a slew of grumbled curses as he pulled his hand free of the pouch to flick the thick blood from his hand. While he fussed about his quickly healing fingers he didn't notice the blood spattering the cave wall behind him. He did, however, notice when said wall began to quake and shift behind him. Needless to say the whole thing spooked the boy who leapt to his feet and spun around to face whatever new hell he'd stumbled upon.

The first thought that ran through Naruto's head was that the wall opened up to another cave that was even darker than the rest. That thought was blown away after several odd floating crystals sparked to life creating an eerie blue glow. With the new light Naruto came to the quick conclusion that his time spelunking had come to an end in favor of tomb robbing. That was what the whole are reminded him of… a tomb… and tombs meant dead people… which meant…

"I'd have taken anything besides this. Give me Momochi Zabuza on a sugar high, a naked Sasuke covered in grease, Sakura on her period… anything but ghosts." Naruto mused with a solemn voice that echoed off the newly revealed walls. Once again, to help rub in that fresh wave of emotional damage, a howling breeze drifted through the now gaping entry way.

"Nope, nope, I'm not doing this. There is nothing in the Elemental Nations that could make me go in there." Naruto grabbed his bag off the cave floor before turning and heading back towards the waterfall. As he grew closer he saw a defenseless fish flop out of the water fall to the large stone just outside the glowing blue barrier, "Aww, poor fishy…-" Said fishy flopped and flipped right into the barrier which caused it to burst into flames.

"…That's just not fair." Naruto dropped his bag to the floor of the cave once again while his shoulder slumped in defeat. He stood still for a moment watching the barrier hiss and sizzle as water kept splashing against it, the poor fish lay dead and blackened on the ground just outside, "Okay… so without any kind of earth techniques I would have to find a way to break this thing down, and probably suffer an agonizing death…"

He turned back to the eerier glowing tunnel at the back of the cave, "Likely death by ghosts… or death by blue wall of doom… ghosts… scary, slimy, evil ghosts… or searing, flaming, burning death by blue wall… burning… ghosts… Fuck me, 'ttebayo."

Naruto turned back towards the scary tunnel before biting back his fear of ghosts and soldiering on. He knew if he kept letting his childhood fears rule over him he would never become a proper ninja, but damn ghosts were scary. Come on, you can't even fight the damn things. Science, ninja techniques, religion, nothing could explain those things! Anyway, he made his way back to the strange tunnel and on closer inspection the walls and ceiling were clearly carved from solid rock using some kind of precision tools rather than techniques. Earth techniques, no matter how well controlled, would always leave some kind of pattern, like swirls or odd scratches that melded into a uniform pattern. Naruto ran his hand along the wall and it was flawless. He noted that the floors were made out of a slightly darker stone starting a few feet away from the door that had opened and continuing in a pattern similar to tiled floors.

Eyeing the strange floating crystals he judged them to be positioned every ten feet or so, and each cluster composed of three crystals cut into oblong diamond-like prisms, "Those things are so cool… even if they do make this place a bit creepy…"

" _Affirmative, young human…_ " The sudden voice brought Naruto out of his musings and had him drawing a kunai to defend himself.

Naruto stood still as a statue as he faced what he hoped wasn't an enemy, though not as much as he hoped the thing was an illusion. It was a great… big… metal man! There was a head with bright yellow eyes sunken into what might have been a copper skull, though the thing was rusted so badly it was hard to tell. The torso was large and round like a giant orange, and there were a bunch of metallic tubes and wires interwoven near the shoulders and pelvis. Rows of rusted and broken spikes jutted up out of both shoulders giving it a very dangerous look, even with all of the decay. The arms and feet were crudely shaped, though their side made up for their rather blocky design. Behind the monstrosity were two short smokestacks that were letting loose small tufts of lazy white smoke. It hadn't made a move yet to attack, though Naruto had to wonder how the hell the thing snuck up on him like it did.

"The heck are you supposed to be…?" Naruto spoke warily, trying not to invoke the wrath of the automaton.

The thing's head tilted slowly to one side while the glowing eyes seemed to observe the boy for several moments before it spoke in the same weird, grinding voice straight out of some science fiction movie, "Language recognition complete: Japanese… I am a steam golem, designation: Blitzcrank. Classification: sentient biomechanical entity, approved and certified by the Council of Zaun."

"Okay…~ What is a steam golem? And for that matter… what the hell is one doing in a place like this?!" Naruto started out with a cautious, confused voice, but that soon elevated to a disbelieving, accusatory yell.

The golem, now named Blitzcrank, lifted one of its oversized fists to its head in order to scratch at his metal skull in an almost sheepish manner, "Your questions are complicated. Analysis of steam golem: autonomous mechanical construct powered by steam engines to provide energy for basic, intermediate, and advanced functions. Analysis of current location: Currently providing protection for Underground Shelter."

A lot of that went right over Naruto's head leaving the boy with many more questions, though he was sure he would be getting just as many complicated answers, "Shelter? You mean this place is like… a safety shelter? Like the tunnels in the Hokage Monument?"

"Information on Hokage Monument… nonexistent. Underground Shelter protects and sustains Professor Viktor, formerly of the College of Techmaturgy of Zaun." Blitzcrank replied in his monotonous, grating voice.

"Whoa… wait, wait… you said sustains… if that word means what I think it means… are you telling me there is someone living here?" Naruto's voice took on an eager tone as he pressed for more information.

The large metal man gave an almost comical nod as his head bobbed back and forth several times without prompting from his machinery, "Affirmative. Due to perimeter alarms inactivity, you did not enter this place by force, correct?"

"You mean did I break in? No way, I don't even know how to break out of this place!" Naruto waved his hands about in a flailing motion to try and dissolve any misconceptions about how he entered the place. The amusing display had the desired effect, though the large sweat drop developing on Blitzcrank's head may not have been a good sign.

"Analysis… you must have activated the blood seals placed here by our last visitor, young Namikaze Minato of Konohagakure."

Naruto blanched a bit, "N-Namikaze Minato?! The freaking Yondaime came here?!"

' _This human is so odd. Father will enjoy speaking with this one, I think.'_ Blitzcrank showed no outer response thanks to his rather limited facial expression capabilities, "Affirmative, though this title…Yondaime… is unknown. Namikaze Minato discovered Underground Shelter 101 approximately sixteen years prior to current date. Minato-san exchanged additional protection for several books of our Magical Arts to conduct independent study. He promised to return, however his absence has stretched beyond preset parameters."

Naruto felt a small pang of guilt surge through his stomach at that point, "He… he's not coming back. He died… a little over twelve years ago."

Blitzcrank visibly lowered his gaze toward the floor, his gyros humming slowly while his smokestacks stopped spewing their odd vapors, "Understood… that is unfortunate. Minato-san was very kind. He promised to return in order to… irrelevant. Please follow me, young human. I will escort you to Professor Viktor now. You have nothing to fear, so please do not engage in unnecessary violence."

The machine stood tall once more before proceeding further down the tunnel that Naruto had already been following. The boy watched the heavy foot falls and listened to the crunching and pounding wondering how the hell he'd been snuck up on before. Realizing he was being left behind he jogged to catch up, though he kept a good two feet away from Blitzcrank at all times, "Hey, big guy, how did you catch me off guard before? You're not exactly the quietest guy around."

To Naruto's surprise the thing let loose a hearty, albeit mechanical, laugh while resting a hand on it's rotund belly. "The movement sensors detected your presence. In my haste to confirm the possible threat I engaged my anti-gravity gyros, eliminating the need to walk. Your analysis of my movement was highly accurate. I sometimes forget that I am made of such obtrusive materials."

"Erm… are you saying that you can fly?" Naruto couldn't help his childish curiosity, though from the reactions he was getting the robot didn't seem as annoyed as people usually got when he didn't fully understand things.

Blitzcrank's eyes seemed to close with little shutters to form an amused expression, well as amused an expression as he was capable of, "Me flying… that would be quite a sight. My flight capability is similar to that of chickens. I may hover for a time until my steam pressure falls, which on average lasts five seconds at a time. Time to replenish steam is about fifteen seconds, give or take. If I so choose I may walk during this power boost, which is still fast but also louder."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of this large metal man running around and making a ruckus like a wedding carriage covered in cans, "I just realized that you're kinda talking a little more normal now. Before you were all… machinie?"

"Affirmative. My speech parameters were set to basic. Transition from one language to another requires several of my systems to reboot to integrate the changes." Blitzcrank turned right at an intersection before heading down some stairs, "Forgive my voice. I am afraid that I was not programmed with anything besides this… machinie… voice tone." He let out a small mechanical chuckle.

Naruto couldn't help but grin as the large mechanical creature chuckled. It was an odd sound to be sure, but it was clear that the thing was enjoying speaking with him. Much like the people of Wave this robot didn't see him as some annoyance to be brushed aside. This thing… Blitzcrank… only saw some kid who wandered into his odd underground home. He was just a kid with a lot of questions that he seemed pleased to answer for him. It was sad that this machine who had no reason to care one way or the other about him was showing more kindness than most of the people back in that village he called home.

"Oh, Blitzcrank-san, sorry for being so rude heh… my name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto leapt in front of the golem and held out his fist while wearing a big, goofy grin on his face.

Blitzcrank looked down at the offered bro fist for only a moment before lifting one of his large fists and carefully pressing it into Naruto's, "Uzumaki Naruto… pleased to meet you."

Naruto let out a whooping cry of joy while pumping his fist into the air, "Yosh! From now on you're one of my precious people, so you never have to worry again because I'm gonna get super strong and keep you and your home safe!"

' _Strange… I see his expression is much like many of my old aquaintences. Humans complain about machines and their lack of emotion, and yet they seek to hide their own behind walls of deception. Such curious behavior.'_

After Naruto's inspirational little proclamation the two descended into a companionable silence for the duration of their walk. From what Naruto could see the entire facility was abandoned, and what wasn't empty had caved in or simply cut off as if the builders purposely left areas unfinished. It was a pretty lucky break that Blitzcrank had come along, otherwise Naruto was sure he'd have died after getting completely lost. The first exciting change for the duo was when Naruto spotted a large set of ornate double doors at the end of a short hallway. Blitzcrank kept up his pace until he reached the door and gave the entry a solid rapping three times. Naruto wondered what the doors were made of to withstand such harsh treatment, but whatever musings he'd planned were dashed to pieces when he heard a thickly accented voice call out something unintelligible to his ears.

" _Enter!"_

Blitzcrank gave the double doors a mighty push forcing them to swing inward and to Naruto's shock they were about six inches thick. When the room came into view the young ninja felt his breath rush away. The room was robust, as tall as the lobby of the Shinobi Library back in Konoha and nearly as wide and long. Several support columns stood at equal lengths to hold up an upper floor that formed a balcony overlooking the ground floor. In the center of everything was the most beautifully crafted fountain that Naruto had ever seen. It was a large circle with four very ancient looking extensions that almost appeared to be clamps of some kind. In the center of the fountain was another blue crystal, but this was clearly the grand daddy of all the smaller sources of light throughout the complex. Four oddly shaped statues seemed to float around the giant gem stone, though he couldn't make out what they were supposed to be.

The left and right walls of the chamber were covered with bookshelves and work benches. Nearly every shelf and surface was taken up with endless messes, but he could clearly see a sort of… order to the chaos. There was no food anywhere, though there were an unrealistic number of oil cans scattered across the floor, some even leaking a little to give the air a rather nasty odor. Blitzcrank saunter casually toward the fountain before walking to the right of it toward the back of the room where Naruto couldn't see due to the giant blue crystal blocking his view. With nothing better to do he walked over to said fountain to get a look at the water, only to yelp in surprise when he caught sight of what he'd call a bottomless pit of death. Darkness like nothing he'd ever seen stretched down further than his eyes could see, though there was an oddly intense beam of light directly beneath the crystal. The light seemed to radiate with warmth, but it wasn't harsh, rather it felt… alive?

" _What have you brought me, my son?"_ The voice from before echoed off the walls, even though the tone sounded soft and weary.

Blitzcrank responded without hesitation, "The source of the intrusion was a boy, Professor. Designation: Uzumaki Naruto. He claims to have entered without the use of force."

Naruto walked around the fountain slowly so that he could peek at whoever the big guy was talking to and he gasped. The back of the room was composed of two slanted walls extending back to form a triangular space capped with a perfectly round point. The walls were bare, though they had been carved with recesses and arches near the ceiling. The floor formed a platform that ascended for about five steps before leveling out into a circle with dozens of runes giving off a mystical glow. Blitzcrank was standing to the side with his back turned toward Naruto and he was speaking to… what might be a man.

Professor Vikor, the Machine Herald had given up his humanity long, long ago. The memory of the day that he had finally ascended to full machine status had been one of immense joy… well, perhaps not joy, emotions were a human burden after all. Every piece of his body had been upgraded, evolved beyond the limited capabilities of insignificant humanity. If only he'd anticipated… how difficult it would become. He had envisioned a world where man could forsake their petty emotions and desires and embrace a future of cold, calculated perfection. The Glorious Evolution was to be a new dawning for Runeterra! That was… long ago.

Now the man turned machine could only look back on his own foolish ambitions with shame, an emotion that he'd tried and failed to discard along with all of the others. All of his efforts had been for naught, and he had to suffer the crushing guilt along with all of the others who escaped… His once proud mechanical body no longer held the same magnificent shine, instead rust had been allowed to overtake many of his joints. The brilliant blue glow of his mana that shined from his eyes had dimmed to give only a hint of his former strength. The proud scepter that he'd once held to weave spells and do battle against the heathens of humanity had been traded for a much more appropriate staff to help support his weakened structure.

As he stood listening to his son, the once mighty Blitzcrank, his old eyes caught sight of a mop of blonde hair peeking around the old nexus fountain. If he'd had his old face, he was sure that his eyes would have widened. After sixteen years of waiting had he finally…? No, Blitzcrank had called him something else… Uzumaki Naruto? But the boy was the spitting image of his old friend… Blitzcrank noticed his father's distracted posture and turned to face the young ninja who let out a small curse before ducking back down to try and hide, though his spiky hair was poking out rather obviously for all to see. Both creator and creation couldn't help chuckling at the absurdity of the boy's actions.

"It has been a very long time since I had to use this language… I hope I remember it well. Come out here, boy, and let us look upon you." Viktor called out in the native tongue, one of the many dialects he'd learned through years of synchronizing with thousands of different summoners.

Naruto cursed inwardly at being seen spying on his big buddy and the new metal man. How many of these robots were there in this place? So far Blitzcrank didn't seem like the bloodthirsty, give me your first born, I'll be back, kind of robot… but this new guy was a wild card. One wrong move and he could go all 'your blood will lubricate my junctions' or something. Blitzcrank followed up his friend's urgings with one of his own and the blonde could only sigh. If his new friend was willing to trust this guy… he would give it a shot. Kami did Naruto wish he had more techniques to use in combat. Manning up, the knucklehead stood up fully before walking around the fountain toward the two man bots.

"Err… sorry for spying… I'm Uzumaki Naruto… who are you, old mech?" Naruto tried to be respectful, but he just couldn't resist the urge to give a possible new friend a risky nickname. It was sort of a test to see if the people he met could handle his personality, and most failed.

Viktor gave the boy a long look before chuckling, "Call me Viktor, no surname. Would you care to explain just how you found your way into our little home?"

Naruto saw no point in lying considering all his options for escape ended in some kind of horrible death, "The short version is… I came out here to find a cave where some friends of mine found a stash of weapons and things. The minute I walk in, this weird… blue wall appeared that fries everything that touches it like freaking bacon! I figured I would check the stuff in the cave for anything to help me get out, but it was all useless. I got tired and sat down by the back of the cave when my light went out. I went into my bag…" Here he turned to show the two of them his small pouch, "…and then I cut my hand on this cheap spool of wire I got at the equipment surplus shop in the village. Next thing you know, this door opens up. I swear I didn't break anything to get here, I didn't even know this place existed."

Viktor tapped a metal finger against his chin while he considered what the boy had told them. After a moment he looked at Naruto with what might have been a look of realization, but the only hint was a slight brightening of glowing mana eyes, "Tell me, Naruto-san, when you cut your hand… did you flick your fingers in pain? Perhaps to clear away the blood?"

Naruto assumed his thinking pose while his face scrunched up. With a snap of his fingers he stood grinning widely, "Uh-huh, that's what I did. It hurt a lot and I waved my hand around to try and make it sting less while it healed."

"Of course! That clever man! He sent you here in his place to keep people from discovering our hidden shelter. It all makes sense after all, he did say he was working to become the leader of his village. Tell me, how is he?" Viktor asked with a hint of excitement to his voice for the first time in many years.

Blitzcrank was about to stall his father from pursuing this line of conversation, but Naruto beat him to the punch, "How is who, old mech?"

Viktor sauntered over to Naruto with slow, easy steps so that he wouldn't damage his joints, "Come now boy, don't play coy. You're the spitting image of that blonde boy. You even seem to have the same kind of energy and enthusiasm as he did. You've certainly got Minato's eyes and hair, but that face must be your mother's. Did he marry for love or politics? I tried to warn him to find love before his career went too far, but I bet he ignored me."

Naruto staggered back a few steps as his world began to crumble, "Wha…? I don't understand…"

Viktor tilted his head slightly before speaking once again with a slow and curious tone, "Boy… if the barrier seal activated at the waterfall, and your blood activated the seal on the main entrance… then you must be directly related to Namikaze Minato. He had no parents, and he had no brothers… so then you must be his son."

Naruto fell to his knees shocking both Viktor and Blitzcrank, "My father… Yondaime… why? Why would he…?" Naruto's head throbbed and memories of his childhood flashed by. The stares, the glares, the insults, the isolation, the discrimination… all of it had been forced on him by the actions of the Yondaime… his own father? Naruto's vision swam as the emotional trauma was too heavy for him to handle, and eventually his world went dark.

* * *

 **There you have it, my beautiful senpais, first chapter done and what a doozy this bass terd was to edit. Not so much the quantity of my errors, so much as my desire to read a chapter that I just spent hours typing being very low. Still, hope you enjoyed yourselves, and I want Reviews people!**

 **Try not to play with fire, flames hurt everyone!**

 **What happened with those bodies left behind in the back alley? When will Hiruzen realize he let one of his Genin, a Jinchuriki no less, slip through his fingers while he was under the influence? Why were his ANBU stupid enough to turn off their poison filters?! And how could I, a heterosexual male, dare to insinuate that Iruka isn't as attractive as a busty female secretary?!**

 **Stay tuned to find out most of those questions and more~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here we are with another chapter for ALoHO, despite my attempts to stay away from it. I used to enjoy playing LoL a lot, so my fanboy side won't let me leave it alone. As per my own preferences, this story has no set word count, I just keep typing until I get to a point where I can comfortably leave you all hanging. In this chappie we will be meeting several new characters, some of which may or may not play an important role in future events. A lot will surely happen, though at this point who the hell knows really?**

 **A review mentioned that a lot of clichés were giving the story a bit of a bland after taste, like Sweet n' Low. With that, I was inspired to change up a few things with how I initially planned to proceed, and hopefully the clichés I settled with (because at this point being original is highly unlikely) will at least keep things mildly interesting. I can safely say that after the Finals, I will be moving to abandon canon and keep the clichés at bay with well placed wreaths of garlic.**

 **Also, suggestions are welcome in terms of LoL champs you want to see make an appearance, possible pairings, and anything else that you'd like to see happen. I do not take orders, but I do listen to requests. I love you senpais, remember that. (not creepy at all)**

 **Also, as an aside, please let me know if you guys need a key to help explain how different bits of dialogue are to be interpreted. I tried to make sure that each bit of speech was attached to enough descriptive writing to clue everyone on to who was speaking, and how, at any given time.**

 **-~Link Start~-**

" _ **You've been sulking for far too long… I must insist you stop, before I end you."**_

Naruto was laying flat on his back in the middle of the central chamber of his Mindscape, and of course that meant he was in the company of the Nine Tailed Fox. Neither party had said much over the course of his time there, which had been perfect for both of them… at first. While Naruto was content to stare blankly into the endless abyss of darkness that made the ceiling of this horrid sewer, Kyuubi had tired of watching the child lay about so lifelessly. Of course he didn't actually give a damn about the boy that would be preposterous. No, he was growing extremely irritated having to share his temporary home with a filthy, insignificant human being. If the insufferable little whelp was going to barge into his cell and hang about for what was going on hours… the least the little shit could do was whimper and cower in fear of his awesome hatred.

Naruto didn't seem to hear the Kyuubi's growling voice, nor did he respond to the vibrations that said demon's footsteps birthed with each angry stomp. The great beast was pacing back and forth, hoping that with the passing of the bars he might see the boy shift as if he were a mere frame in a series of photos. No matter how roughly he thrashed about to make noise the boy simply sat there, or rather he lay there, unmoving and indifferent to the world around him. It was infuriating.

" _ **You worthless, mindless, hairless ape! To think I must suffer being trapped inside something so weak as to break from a simple truth! And you aspire to be a Kage?! There are greater men than you who scrape the bottoms of boats for coppers!"**_ The Kyuubi lashed out against the bars in another futile attempt to weaken the seal.

For the first time the boy stirred. Naruto's half-lidded eyes turned to stare unblinking toward the Kyuubi who had frozen in mid swing as intense red met darkened cerulean. For a moment the Kyuubi thought he'd simply moved due to the shifting of the Mindscape, but that theory was shot when the boy turned his head completely on its side. Those eyes… those damned eyes that reminded him of the man who put him in the boy. How he would like to rip them from the child's skull almost as much as he would love the chance to devour the eyes of every Uchiha, alive or dead. The Kyuubi settled down slowly before lowering his head enough to be nearly eye level with the cockroach festering in his den.

" _ **Speak, wretch, before I grow even more weary of you and truly break from this hell…"**_ The Kyuubi knew that he couldn't break free, not with the original seal and the damnable seal placed on by the snake further disrupting the chakra throughout the puny child, but he could possibly provoke the boy into showing some life!

Naruto seemed to be sizing up the Kyuubi slowly, his eyes never gaining any warmth or recognition, and then he spoke softly, "You talk too much, bunny-chan."

The tails of the beast lashed harshly in the background like great serpents of destruction, _**"You… this is akin to the pot calling the kettle black, flesh bag."**_

"Relax, bunny-chan, and be quiet…" Naruto retorted before focusing back on the void above.

" _ **You do not speak to me like this, do you understand?! I will crush you, and then burn what is left, and then scatter the ashes into the wind with a wave of my tails so that even in oblivion you will be nothing! You are nothing, human!"**_ The Kyuubi could only snarl as his massive hand like paws scraped and bashed against the invisible wall created by the seal on his cage.

Naruto let his eyes blink as the growling and snarling continued on for what could have been hours for all the attention he was paying it. He knew that he must have gone through another traumatic shock, but unlike last time when he was saved the backlash thanks to his collapsing into the Mindscape, this time it was as if his mind was being suppressed into a submissive state. Though the Kyuubi was acting harshly he knew that the giant monster was trying to bring him out of his funk, but no matter how much he wanted to move something was telling him, _demanding him_ , to ignore the Kyuubi. Everytime he let his mind wander towards the subject of his father a phantom pain would surge through his head and he would go blank once again. What could be happening to him?

The Kyuubi had settled down and sat on his haunches to observe his container quietly after his immediate rage had faded. Without the ability to connect with the young teen like he could before there was no way to tell just what state Naruto was in. This 'not knowing' that Kyuubi had once brushed off as a human condition left a sour taste in his mouth, and he didn't even have taste buds for crying out loud! A being of pure, seething fury reduced to ignorance… what was the world coming to? He attempted to forces his chakra through the seal for the thousandth time since the boy had left the Forest of Death, and once again he was left with nothing but failure and unfathomable displeasure.

"Hey, bunny-chan?" Naruto's soft voice echoed through the chamber bringing the fox back from his inner musings to the infuriatingly annoying reality he was forced to endure.

" _ **Yes, meat sack, what is it now?"**_ Even if he was pleased to see the boy speaking up again, he wouldn't admit it, and neither would he cut the little bastard any slack if he could help it.

Naruto kept his eyes glued to the ceiling of the chamber as he took a deep breath, "I'm sorry."

The Kyuubi's claws scraped across the floor of his cell slowly as his muscles clenched tightly, _**"What did you say…?"**_

"I said, I'm sorry. For a couple of things, I think, but… for right now, I'm sorry that I've been in here so long. It's hard for me to explain… but something is keeping me here." Naruto let his head fall over to face the large fox with his nearly dead eyes blankly pointed toward his tenant's large, menacing red eyes, "Every time I try to sort out my thoughts… I get a really strange headache… and then I get confused again."

The demon's eyes narrowed slowly before he spoke in a mixture of soft and concerned, and tamed fury, _**"Turn your head away from me… and then think of your father, Namikaze Minato."**_

Without thinking of anything specific Naruto let his head slowly turn over until he faced away from his inner beast. When he was sure that he could turn his head no further he let his mind center on the face he'd seen on the wall of the Hokage office hundreds of times. That man was named Namikaze Minato, known as the Yellow Flash by his enemies, and beloved by all for his position as Yondaime of Konohagakure. That man had fought countless battles to protect his home and eventually went on to help win the Third Great War. That man had traveled to Wave once and met the steam golem Blitzcrank, and the metal man Viktor. That man was his fath-

The Kyuubi saw the body of his container, at least the mental projection of the boy, tense. And then there it was, the proof that his suspicions were correct. Just beneath his hair near the base of his skull began to glow bright red. Despite his concern for the boy being non-existent, something about this whole situation left him feeling disgusted, furious, confused, and perhaps even a little… guilty. The latest of those feelings only stirred his fury into a whirlwind that threatened to tear the entire Mindscape asunder. How dare, whatever, whoever… nothing made the Great Nine Tailed Fox feel anything but condescension, carnal pleasure, or satisfaction!

" _ **Stop thinking, boy… let that empty head of yours rest and think of nothing. Perhaps dream of your precious ramen, or that pitiful ambition of becoming Hokage."**_ The Kyuubi let his body sink to the floor before curling into itself, one lone eye half lidded to focus on the boy.

Naruto felt his pain ease and let the words sink in. Even though something… _someone_ … was whispering to ignore the fox, the idea was in his head and soon it became his own. He wanted to rest his mind and let his thoughts go. He felt really tired, and yet he knew he wouldn't sleep either… or perhaps he couldn't sleep. With his mind going blank for the first time in hours the darkness around him began to consume all. The fox and his cage vanished slowly and whatever he could see of the walls seemed to shimmer and fade too. No more thoughts of Kyuubi, no more thoughts on the Fourth Hokage, and no more thoughts of his parents.

-Line Break-

Viktor had spent years of his life working tirelessly to improve his understanding of the human body. With every answered question, several more would present themselves for debate and further study. If he were to herald the coming of the Glorious Evolution, he would need to perfect every facet of the human condition to the calculated efficiency of mechanical design. It seemed that nothing would ever lead to complete perfection… and it used to infuriate him to no end. The human structure was supported by weak, brittle bones that worked to house delicate organs and support weak muscles. The skin was sensitive to most every natural condition, pathetic. He spent days, weeks, months… years studying every level of the living body of man, always scoffing at how inferior nature's designs were compared to his own.

Regardless of his feelings though, he was still well versed in nearly all medical fields, anything to aid in the success of his Hextech enhancements. None of his skill or knowledge could have prepared him for what he found after examining the body of the young boy who'd wandered into his dusty old home. He had first assumed that the human boy had fallen victim to severe shock, typical of the emotional tendencies of teenagers. Blitzcrank had informed him of the situation concerning Minato, and while he was oddly saddened by the news, it still didn't answer the question that was burning in his mind. Why did this child, this Naruto, react so violently to the discovery of his link to Minato? He had to understand, so he set about conducting a full physical examination of the boy's body.

Blitzcrank had been generous enough to help move the boy to one of the few furnished rooms in their old facility, an inactive medical bay. Long had that particular portion of the facility been without power, but some rewiring and some well placed bursts of Mana helped to reawaken the dank ruins. Viktor knew they wouldn't have enough juice to take advantage of their more advanced technology that he'd snagged from Zaun, so he settled for their more mundane, magically powered tools. The whole process took hours, and the lack of physical response from the boy was alarming even to his old circuits. During their seventh hour of observation is when the first breakthrough had been made. Located near the base of Naruto's skull was some odd, dangerous looking set of runes that neither he nor Blitzcrank found familiar.

Attempts to alter something of such power were shoved aside in favor of keeping the boy from further harm, but they knew his condition was directly linked with the odd markings. Every so often the boy would tense, and the runes would glow a fiery red. The whole thing was mind boggling, but Viktor was nothing if not patient when observing something new and worthy of study.

Viktor brought up a large image of the markings on a monitor set into the wall above Naruto's observation table, _"I cannot say for sure… but this is oddly reminiscent of the status spells cast back home. The energy it gives off isn't inherently dark, but there was ill intent lacing the power used to activate this curse."_

Blitzcrank walked slowly to join his father and observe the markings. They'd had a hard time getting a good image of it without having to cut the hair, but they didn't want to risk causing further damage by disturbing the area. His skull like head turned to gaze down at Viktor, _"I believe you are correct, father. Often times such marks could even be built upon, increasing existing effects or producing new ones. 'Stacking' was quite troublesome on the Fields of Justice."_

" _I would like to try something… I don't want to waste it, but I think that it has sat inactive for long enough. Go, my son, and fetch the Crucible from Storage Room 248."_ Viktor never took his glowing eyes off the image in front of them, and even as Blitzcrank's heavy foot falls echoed through the room he remained focused.

Tapping a few buttons on the console in front of him he had the image shift and turn several times. From every angle the blasted thing was impossible to understand with his limited knowledge of the world's runic alphabet. Tearing his glowing eyes away from the screen for the first time in what may have been ten to fifteen minutes he huffed and hobbled back and forth to busy his old leg motors and contemplate on the situation. Whether the Crucible was able to remedy the situation or not, understanding the problem would prevent it happening again. It reminded him of his first experiments at augmenting the human brain. So many test subjects… their sacrifice was necessary, or so he told himself time and time again. The first step to solving any problem was always to identify the problem, but where to start?

The rumbling of the floor reminded Viktor that Blitzcrank had gone to fetch the Crucible, and unfortunately he had come no closer to figuring anything out than he was before. It was practically unheard of for his augmented mind to perform so badly! Said steam golem lumbered into the room carrying a large crate that looked to have seen better days. Despite the outward appearance, what with the stains and cracks, the contents of the container were undoubtedly in perfect working order. Viktor waved over toward a cleared space near the center of the room, _"Good work, I will see to that in a moments. Come, help me collect my thoughts."_

" _How can I help you, father?"_ Blitzcrank sauntered over toward Viktor and the still unconscious Naruto.

Viktor thought for a moment before eyeing his oversized companion, _"Tell me, of the tomes and scrolls that Minato left behind, did any of them make reference to such things? Perhaps calling them curses, marks, ritual glyphs, anything?"_

" _One moment, processing all data references linked to Namikaze Minato… complete. One entry confirmed under term 'Curse' located in scroll labeled_ Worrisome Seals and How to Identify Them _."_ Blitzcrank walked over to one of the inactive consoles while Viktor followed, curious as to what his creation had found.

The console that Blitzcrank had accessed burst to life after a very subtle nudge of Mana was forced through its circuits. Being a simple information terminal it wouldn't sap enough power from the facility's primary power supply to threaten the stability of the energy grid. Viktor's eyes scanned through each file that his son sorted through until he recognized the data entry made to record the scroll that Blitzcrank had mentioned. The first entry was a basic description of the Sealing Arts as dictated by someone named Uzumaki Kazashi, followed by several entries detailing several basic uses for seals. So far the old mechanized man found nothing of note, until he saw Blitzcrank access an entry about something called Cursed Seals, some form of forbidden sealing method by the cautionary notes littering the entire entry.

" _My boy, cross reference the image we took of the markings on Naruto with the diagrams in this file, in fact check every diagram we have from that particular scroll just to be safe."_ Viktor placed an rusted hand on Blitzcrank's arm for support as he leaned forward toward the monitor.

Without a word in response the large automaton flicked through several commands that brought a plethora of life to the glowing screen. In no time at all several results were displayd in small windows all over the screen. According to the data collected there were several similarities between some of the more detestable forbidden seals and different elements of the markings on Naruto. Even without full knowledge of the 'Art' of sealing, Viktor could tell that Naruto had suffered several injustices, some that both brought new horrors to him, and terrible memories from his darker past. Blitzcrank stood motionless as his eyes took in every detail for future reference, but as each image was burned into his internal memory the sentient portion of his mind grew more and more infuriated.

" _Data recording complete… Father, what do you make of all this?"_ Blitzcrank turned his metal skull toward Viktor and the techmaturgist could see a burning fury in those bright golden eyes, _"If these results are correct, what does it mean?"_

" _Simply, my boy… it means that someone has been manipulating this boy, and likely this has been going on for a very long time. I do not wish to discuss this until the boy has woken up-"_ Viktor stopped abruptly in the middle of his sentence when the subject of their discussion began to groan.

"Why does everyone have to be so loud while I am trying to relax…?" Naruto mumbled into the exam table he was currently laid out on.

"Naruto, how are you feeling?" Viktor asked calmly while slowly limping his way back over to the examination area, "You've been unconscious for about seven hours, we began to worry and have done a few tests on you. Nothing invasive, I assure you."

Naruto slowly turned over to lay on his back, thanking Kami for the sweet relief of darkness considering he was likely in some kind of hospital if they ran tests. Hospitals were detestably bright, something he was unfortunately familiar with, "Besides feeling like Sakura-chan spent the past week hammering my skull inside out, I feel like a ramen special."

"I'm not sure what a ramen special is, but I am assuming that you are suffering some form of head pain. Unfortunately, I was expecting as much." Viktor exchanged a look with Blitzcrank who had walked over to join the two of them.

Naruto looked at Blitzcrank and gave the big guy one of his big grins to reassure his newest friend that he was all right, and then he realized what Viktor had said and looked back towards the decrepit old bot, "Oi, old mech, what do you mean you were expecting that? Did you bang me over the head?!" Naruto pointed a rather steamy, accusatory glare toward Viktor who could only laugh at the comical look the teen was giving.

"No, in fact I've never been one much for physical confrontation. If you would indulge this 'old mech' and answer me a question… what do you recall of our conversation before you fell asleep?" Viktor walked closer to look Naruto in the eyes.

Naruto looked back into those dimly glowing lights wondering if there were real eyes somewhere hidden behind that strange energy, "I remember you introducing yourself, I think… no, I was looking at you from behind that weird fountain, and I heard you both calling my name. Then… it gets all fuzzy, I don't know."

"Relax, boy, all is well. If you are up to it, I would like to ask you another question." Viktor could feel every fiber optic in his system practically singing with curiosity and wonder, but he knew that to get the information he desired he would have to be patient, especially with a teenager who had already shown signs of instability.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while eyeing the curious robot, "Uhm… sure, old mech, what's up?"

Viktor seemed to hesitate, his head shifting slightly toward Blitzcrank who stood motionless by Naruto's side, though his gears were quietly humming. Turning back to the teen on the table he spoke slowly, "Do you recall anyone ever placing a seal on the back of your head?"

As the words ran through his head Naruto felt the dull ache start to intensify causing him to moan and grip his head. Viktor saw the boy swaying and barely had time to react before Blitzcrank used his large metal hands to support the boy in case he fell unconscious again. With the teen held firm Viktor hurried over and found the seal burning brightly again, this time with only specific markings radiating the negative energy. Without letting his mind wander to second guesses and doubtful miscalculations he swept across the room quicker than he had moved in well over a century. When he came upon the old crate that his son had dutifully fetched from whatever wretched corner it had festered in he forced he aged locking mechanism to crack open before shoving the top to the floor. Dust and questionable debris scattered through the air before settling enough for him to view the contents of the long forgotten treasure.

On first glance it would appear that he'd discovered the world's most overly hyped old bucket. The large basin was made of an ancient material that without proper study may well have been mistaken for bronze. The outer design was much more angular than the inside would suggest with six identically measured sides. One of the sides was decorated with two special runes long since forgotten with time with some form of red dye or paint. The cover had been designed similarly with six identical triangular sides leading up to the center where a small spout sat either to loose excess fumes or provide ease of pouring, neither seemed very likely and yet there were no records to suggest just why the object had been designed as such.

" _Mikael's Crucible… it has been too long since this relic has done any good. Without a proper source of Mana to replenish it, this may be its final deed… let it be a worthy one."_ Viktor let an old hand gently run across the cover of the crucible before he tapped into the Mana reserve within the relic. An all too familiar sensation went up his arm and through his body. Focusing this new power toward his staff Viktor looked over toward the examination table where Blitzcrank had gently placed Naruto into a prone position so that the seal was visible. Directing his old staff toward the boy he could see a visible projectile of ancient magic shoot clear across the room and slam directly into the seal. What came next, while expected, still shocked both creator and creation, nearly making them both gasp, despite their lack of functioning lungs.

It happened in an instant. One moment there was a dull throbbing pain dominating a majority of his head. The next moment, the pain seemed to condense into a sharp piercing centered near the base of his skull. It was unlike anything he'd felt before, and was so intense that even as his mouth opened to scream he could not inhale enough air to produce a sound. All at once a decade's worth of memories flashed through his mind causing his body to become catatonic.

-Line Break-

 _A four year old Uzumaki Naruto was sitting contentedly in one of the nicest beds he'd ever been in. He'd never been to the hospital before, and even though he got hurt bad before being brought there, it was still an exciting day. It hadn't been that bad really… just two weird guys throwing a sake flask at his head when he was out for a walk. It was strange though that they ran away so scared when this red stuff came out of his head to heal the cut. Yeah it was scary, I mean come on, that stuff looked like it might be really hot! Turned out it was super cool stuff that fixed up his head in no time and as soon as it was done it went back in._

 _The really scary guys with the weird animal masks jumped down at him out of no where moments after his the glowing friendly stuff went away, and they took him to the hospital where a bunch of nurses and doctors rushed him into a bunch of cold rooms. They gave him a ton of needles that really stung, but they told him it was all to make sure he was okay, so he made sure to stay strong and not cry. A few of the people taking his blood had been giving him really mean looks, but that seemed pretty normal around the village, especially since the orphanage sent him to live in the streets. The needles they gave him hurt a lot, a whole lot, but after getting hit in the head by a flask a needle is a silly thing to whine about._

 _After things had quieted down he was left to rest while they went and checked all his stuff. He couldn't sleep with all the excitement, but he did really enjoy the bed. At his little apartment the Hokage had given him his bed had lots of holes and springs were always poking his back. It sucked, but he figured he could buy a new one as soon as he found a shop that would sell him one, though he could never save much of the money the old man gave him each month. Whatever, at least he had a bed, and even if it was uncomfortable it was better than the cold floor._

 _He was broken from his thoughts when the friendly face of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, came into view from the now open door, "Hello there Naruto-kun, I heard you ran into some trouble earlier?" His voice was kindly, though there was a tone of something hidden underneath that façade that Naruto was picking up on but couldn't place._

 _Trusting the old man more than anyone he gave a broad smile before excitedly replying, "There were these two big guys with mean faces, and they saw me walking home from the park, and one guy threw this really heavy bottle at me. It hurt real bad, and I felt this sticky stuff on my face, but then this really cool red stuff came out and fixed me up real fast! I've never seen that stuff before; do you know where it came from? Oh, maybe I got some super cool bloodline!"_

 _Naruto's excited face fell and slowly turned to one of horror as he felt an incredible pain in his stomach. Looking down he saw that the friendly old man, the man who often helped him when no one would, the man he considered a grandfather, had buried his fist deeply into his little stomach forcing out his breath. Everything faded to black slowly as he tried to look back up, and all he saw was the shadowed face of the Sandaime looking at him with an apathetic expression. When the darkness finally overwhelmed him he fell into a dreamless sleep that would last for several days._

 _When Naruto returned to the land of the living he felt strange, as if he couldn't really think straight. He tried to remember where he was, but that became rather obvious once he inhaled the scent of harsh cleaners and medicine around him. Somehow he knew he was in the hospital, but instead of feeling excited and curious he felt wary and concerned. He opened his eyes and found the room both familiar and foreign right down to the little details like the small water stain on one of the ceiling tiles of the drop ceiling above him. Scanning the room he could swear that he'd seen the Hokage there, but that couldn't be because he'd only just woken up._

" _Take it easy Naruto, you took a nasty bump to the head." Naruto turned to the corner of the room to see the very man he'd been thinking about appear practically out of no where._

 _The little boy rubbed the back of his head and flinched at the dull pain he felt there, "Ano… I guess you're right, it still hurts a little… what happened?"_

 _Hiruzen watched the boy for a moment before discreetly forming a few hand sighns with his right hand to activate the seals he'd ordered placed on the boy. On cue he could see the boy's eyes glazing over as the seals went to work. With that done, it was time to test them, "Why don't you tell me what you remember…?"_

 _Naruto's eyes took on their natural look before he tilted his head cutely, "I think I ran into a couple of mean guys, but everything else is fuzzy. Sorry, old man." Naruto grinned sheepishly._

" _Listen, Jinchuriki…" Hiruzen took on a firm tone._

 _Naruto stiffened before his eyes glazed over and he locked gazes with the old Hokage, "Hai, Hokage-sama…"_

 _Hiruzen walked over to Naruto while speaking slowly, "You mustn't blame the civilians for what they do… they are just stupid. You cannot hurt someone for behaving stupidly, understood?"_

" _Yes, I understand, villagers are innocent…" Naruto's voice took on a monotone as his mind easily accepted his instructions._

" _Whatever they say, listen, but do not accept it. Their approval is very important, and you must fight for it, no matter how long it takes." Hiruzen glared harshly at the boy as the child hesitated, "To be acknowledged and seek acceptance from the village… that is your only purpose, understood?"_

 _Naruto's shaky voice replied moments later, "H-hai, Hokage-sama…"_

" _Women in general are not to be trusted. Every action they take should be considered hostile, and you must be wary of them. Avoid if at all possible. Should this prove impossible, then act on impulse, improvise, but never consider your actions for too long." Hiruzen intoned while keeping his focus on the boy's eyes._

 _Naruto replied without hesitation, "Hai Hokage-sama, I will be careful of women."_

" _Rest now…" Hiruzen commanded, and he was filled with a sense of satisfaction when the boy slumped back with his eyes half lidded._

" _If that look is anything to go by, I would say you are pleased with the results…?" A new voice echoed from one of the shadows along the walls._

 _Hiruzen never turned from the child as he replied, "Jiraiya-kun, I thought you would have left as soon as the sealing was complete. Come to observe your masterwork?"_

 _Jiraiya walked out of the shadows like a specter. The man was aged, but respectably well managed. His green short shirt kimono and matching pants worked to conceal the details of his physical build, though any seasoned ninja could tell just by his stance that he was not a man to take lightly. Reaching into his red haori he removed a sake flask before taking a rather hearty swig. Hiruzen eyed the man's actions with an analytical glare before turning back to Naruto. Seeing the old man hovering over the son of his former student he decided to join him, "I am an expert, not a master. This work is the best I could do with my limited experience." Jiraiya was never a man to be modest, so Hiruzen quickly understood that his former student had little faith in the seals he'd placed for him._

" _I noticed the boy hesitate once… care to explain?" Hiruzen quirked an eyebrow while looking at the white haired man standing on the opposite side of the hospital bed._

 _Jiraiya gently flipped the boy over onto his stomach before pushing chakra into the child's system, focusing near the spine so that the seals came to life glowing a light blue, "As you can see I followed your orders to the letter. A three layered seal was no walk in the park, but at triple S rank pay it was worth the pain in my ass. The base is a Repression seal designed to keep the boy from remembering anything that you order he forget. I was watching your experimentation… was it necessary to test this out seven times in such quick succession?"_

" _I have learned the hard way that there is no such thing as being overly cautious. I wanted to test the limitations of the seal, and I am pleased with the results. The boy will never remember having seen the power of the Kyuubi, and any future slips can easily be blanked from his memory. I will not have him aware of his burden until the time is right."_

 _Jiraiya eyed his sensei with a knowing look, "I would suggest that you use the seal with caution. Certain memories cannot be repressed so easily. Particularly happy memories can break the seal entirely."_

 _Hiruzen huffed indignantly, "I noticed… that troublesome noodle merchant and his daughter have left a rather positive impression on him. After three attempts to have him forget about their kindness, I admit defeat."_

" _I suppose that must have something to do with your last little instruction using the Obedience seal?" Jiraiya mused aloud with a small smirk tugging at his lips._

" _This is for the greater good, Jiraiya. The boy must have focus if he is to be used properly. Should he let his hormones rule him and seek out companionship he would lose his purpose. Without purpose, he has no use." Hiruzen's eyes blazed with conviction._

 _Jiraiya raised his hands in a placating manner, "Relax, I don't need this to devolve into another lecture about my hobby. Moving on, the Obedience seal is pretty self explanatory. As you are aware the seal functions with a verbal key to activate. All verbal cues after activation are meant to give the sealed not so subtle suggestions to follow all orders given. From what I read in the Uzu scrolls I snagged in Water Country the effectiveness of the seal is directly associated with the willpower of the sealed. The Gaki here must have a lot of trouble with the villagers, so their approval isn't exactly a high priority. Chances are he'll learn to accept their behavior or ignore it, and subconsciously he will work toward the goal you've set for him."_

 _Hiruzen nodded slowly as he watched Naruto's nearly closed eyes looking toward each of them whenever they spoke without comprehending anything, "And what of the final seal?"_

" _That would be the Spiritual Suppression seal, a bit less complicated than it sounds really. In essence this seal will thwart any and all actions that influence the spiritual growth of the sealed. This includes scholastic learning, chakra usage, and even meditation. Any kind of mental focus will be disrupted or blocked entirely. With limited physical education and a lack of mental focus he will be forced to rely on the chakra of the Kyuubi, as per your insistence." Jiraiya paused as he gave his sensei a wary glance, "I have to ask… is this about what Minato found?"_

 _Hiruzen took a moment to respond before letting out a deep sigh, "Yes… his notes spoke of something… a sleeping army, Jiraiya. Even he was convinced that harnessing a strong enough chakra source was the key…"_

" _You need to let go of that foolish idea, sensei. Minato was no warmonger, no matter what he may have written in his journals. I've read the entries dozens of times. He wasn't going to resurrect an army, he was trying to rescue a civilization. If you ask me the whole thing sounds like a poorly told fairy tale." Jiraiya flinched when he felt the killing intent wash over the room from his sensei._

" _I have done far too much up to this point to turn back now. One way or another that fairy tale is real, and I will be ready to sacrifice whatever I must in order to make it a reality. This boy… he has no future in this village save acting as the scapegoat for the true villain in all this. He will become a tool, a means to the eventual end. And should Minato have been wrong… then we'll still have the beast on a tether. Nothing, not even the child of my former successor, outweighs the safety and prosperity of Konoha. "_

 _~Memory Transition~_

" _Hey old man…" Naruto, now age nine, sat sulking a little on the leather couch in the corner of the Hokage's office._

 _Hiruzen found the distraction from his work welcoming and took the opportunity to light up a bit of his special tobacco, "What's got you looking so depressed, Naruto-kun?"_

 _Naruto let his short legs kick slowly back and forth in a very childish manner while he eyed the floor, "No one likes me at the Academy… they say I'm dumb, and they like to tease me about my height and how skinny my arms and legs are."_

 _Of the ANBU located around the office, not a single one of them could resist picturing how to appropriately deal with the bullying taking place in their Shinobi Academy. To their shock, Hiruzen scowled at the boy before signaling them all to leave the office with a subtle hand gesture. They dared not hesitate a direct order, and as soon as the lot of them were outside the office perimeter a privacy barrier had been erected. With his would be audience out of the way he set his elbows on his desk and closed his eyes, "Listen, Jinchuriki…"_

 _Little Naruto stiffened and his eyes glazed over, "Hai, Hokage-sama…" The young boy rose to his feet before walking over to the desk to stand by Hiruzen and peer up into the old man's eyes._

 _The withered old Hokage looked impassively down into the dulled cerulean blue eyes of his ward with little empathy, "The other students don't matter, Naruto-kun… none of them. If you don't want to be there, then you just leave, understood? In fact… you don't need to listen to your instructors either. They're all out to get you… trust no one… no one except me."_

" _Hai, Hokage-sama…" Naruto's voice was low and depressed, as if he were acknowledging the words without fully accepting them, something the Sandaime took note of._

 _Hiruzen grumbled angrily as he recognized the weakness in the boy's voice, "That is all, Jinchuriki."_

 _Naruto's eyes regained their color and the boy stood blinking before giving a sheepish grin at the old man, "Hehe… did I zone out again?"_

" _Yes you did, Naruto-kun. Anyway, how are you feeling?" Hiruzen let his eyes fall to his desk, though he watched the boy out of the corner of his eye._

 _Naruto thought for a moment and his little mind worked hard to piece together his feelings. His smile settled into one that was void of any true joy, "Better than ever!"_

 _The elder Sarutobi was not the Hokage for nothing, and he could tell a fake smile a mile away. Still, this fake happiness, whether a mask or not, was better than the boy showing his depression openly. Should the meddling council take notice someone may try to sabotage his plans and help the boy. God forbid any of the Shinobi Council members take notice of the seals placed on him. Too many questions would be asked, and if their pretentious noses began sniffing around… he would hate to have Danzo get involved…_

 _~Memory Transition~_

 _Sarutobi Hiruzen walked along the foot path in one of Konoha's less frequented parks with his alleged surrogate grandson Uzumaki Naruto. The boy was twelve years old and looking a little more downtrodden than normal. He'd been feeling much lonelier than normal, which he had assumed would stop after he'd been assigned his new super amazing ninja team. He'd nothing in common with either of his teammates, and neither of them seemed to want anything to do with him. The child was currently complaining about the completely biased training schedule that his sensei, Hatake Kakashi, had been issuing his students. Hiruzen outwardly nodded along while he let the boy vent, but inwardly he was grinning rather viciously._

 _Of course he knew exactly what was going on with the boy's team, he had set the teams up after all. Granted, the system had acted in his favor in this particular instance, but there had been a few petitions from perspective Jonin to take the boy on their teams, even a few reserve teams that had taken casualties. With tradition on his side he was able to stall each and every one of the requests with a simple and believable lie. The dead last of the graduating class must always be with the top male and female graduates, and Naruto had ironically succeeded at becoming the absolute worst graduate, possibly of all time. And how perfect it had been that the top male graduate had of course been the Uchiha brat, an arrogant little whelp with a superiority complex that just so happened to flare up whenever he and the blonde were within ten feet of each other._

 _With the potential for an awakening Sharingan on the team, it was only fitting to push his least productive Jonin into accepting the team. He knew the man all too well and his failings in the past would practically demand him to take on the Uchiha and groom him into the perfect little Konoha ninja. With the man's focus on the Uchiha, he would completely neglect his other students and further sabotage Naruto's growth so that the boy would be pushed further toward his ultimate destiny. So what if Kakashi found out some day down the line that he'd thrown his sensei's son to the wolves? And to rid the world of another Haruno after he'd had that loud mouthed mother of hers' voice box irreparably damaged was all the more a bonus._

"… _And then he just has us running all these pointless drills all day, and then he gives Sasuke a couple of these cool looking scrolls! I asked if I would get one, and he just smiled and pat my head like I was some kind of dog!" Naruto huffed as he crossed his arms, his bottom lip pouting like a flustered five year old._

 _Hiruzen plastered on one of his patented grandfather smiles, "Naruto-kun, I'm sure he just wants to make sure that everyone is on equal footing. After all, you already have the Shadow Clone technique, which is a very high ranking Ninjutsu. You do want your new friends to catch up… right?"_

 _Naruto looked down at the ground while his body tensed, "Old man, I just… I know I'm lagging way behind Sasuke and Sakura in a lot of the basics… Iruka-sensei tried to help me out, but I just couldn't get it. Kakashi-sensei is super strong and I know he could teach me a lot, I want him to… I want to be the best that I can be, ya know? Maybe I could try talking to him in private, or ask Kakashi-sensei to Ramen Ichiraku and ask for tips over dinner. You think I should?"_

 _The Sandaime internally growled at the mention of the thrice accursed Ichiraku family. How many times those people meddled in his plans by giving the child somewhere to escape his troubles… it was troublesome. His previous attempts to influence the boy away from them had failed miserably, and the Ichiraku weren't the only people the boy had grown to trust. Iruka, that worthless little eternal Chuunin, had wormed his way into Naruto's heart the night of his failed graduation. Several clan heirs in his graduating class had formed a posse that their senseis often called "The Dropout Princes" due to their repeated escapes from class during the day. The little hell raisers had connected to Naruto and become loosely connected friends, and those bonds would not be broken regardless of how many times he tried to adjust his memory or influences his mind to detach from them._

" _Listen, Jinchuriki…" Hiruzen had grown weary of the phrase over the years, but he knew that what he was doing was… necessary._

 _Naruto stopped mid-step and turned to face the old man with lifeless eyes, "Hai, Hokage-sama…"_

 _Hiruzen sighed deeply as he turned to look into those eyes that reminded him more and more of Minato with each passing year, "Your Jonin sensei… he must focus on Sasuke… this is how it must be, by order of the council… there is nothing anyone can do, understand?"_

 _Naruto's eyes stared unblinkingly back at Hiruzen for several moments without him uttering a single word. The glossy texture fluctuated several times and caused Hiruzen a significant amount of worry. Should the seal collapse, not only would the boy likely remember everything… he may even become severely brain damaged and rendered invalid. This had always been a very real threat, but Jiraiya had been on hand at least once a year to keep a close watch over the seals. This would mark the first time since their placement all those years ago that the seals showed true signs of weakening. To his immense relief, the boy's eyes settled and his body seemed to calm again before he finally spoke._

"… _Hai…" Naruto's voice was very shaky, and there was an underlying sadness that would have broken the heart of anyone… save the very man whose heart should ache the most for his crimes against the child._

" _Someday, Naruto-kun, you will fulfill your destiny and all of this… all of this will prove to have been necessary. You will bring this village the power it needs to influence peace across the Elemental Nations, by bringing it to its knees." Hiruzen let a hand rest on the shoulder of the entranced young boy before him, the tear running down the cheek of the child falling unnoticed._

 **-Line Break-**

Naruto's eyes shot open as he loosed a scream of pain that slowly morphed into a roar of emotional agony. Nearly eight years of memory repression, manipulations, and spiritual suppression tore through his mind like a maelstrom. A familiar red glow formed around his head whipping up a whirlwind around him with its intensity. He could feel it burning like fire, and yet the pain within his mind slowed and retracted to a dull thud that spread like waves in steady water upon each pulse of his heart. The thudding slowed and then as quickly as it began it ceased entirely leaving him to vent his frustrations without the taint of pain to warp his cries.

Viktor and Blitzcrank stood silently near the wall, their backs pressed firmly to solid metal and concrete from the force of the winds issued from the boy. Blitzcrank couldn't understand what had happened, what he had seen. The strange curse on the teenager's neck broke three times, each time causing the boy a great deal of pain if his contortions were any indication. Then, a fourth marking appeared on his stomach over an even more complex array of runes. While the complex arrangement was left unchanged, the secondary markings shattered, and with it a torrent of power unlike anything he'd ever felt in his entire life surged forth. Even his experiences in the Rift when battling against the being Xerath paled in comparison. The boy contained something akin to the strength of ten Nexuses.

Viktor kept his eyes locked on the youth as the storm of energy that he'd released settled down. The very air seemed to hum with energy, and several of the monitors and consoles around the medical lab were alive with light, some flickering from energy overload. The cries he was issuing were full of anguish and despair… the pain of betrayal. He knew this feeling all too well, the pain of knowing that one he'd placed his faith in had done him a great disservice. A feeling he had long ago tried to eliminate surfaced as his body moved on autopilot toward the boy. This feeling was sympathy, or perhaps empathy…

"Naruto… what happened?" Viktor used as gentle a tone as he could, his old voice synthesizer making it difficult, but not impossible, to express subtle emotion.

Naruto had taken to a position on his hands and knees as his fingers curled into tightly tensed fists, "That old… idealistic… insufferable… back-stabbing monster! He used me… he… he manipulated me… like I was some kind of… puppet for his sick, twisted goals! Eight years… eight years I was…" Naruto was speaking slowly, his mind sluggishly coming to life with each passing moment. Previously untapped knowledge and comprehension came to him in a waterfall.

Viktor rested an old, rusted hand on the teen's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze, "Take it easy boy, relax… you are becoming hysterical. You need to breath or you will end up losing consciousness again."

Naruto flinched away from the touch. It reminded him of all the times the Sandaime had put his disgusting hands on him. Every time that man had laid a hand on him while whispering his sweet words of wisdom… all the walks in secluded parks and back streets. Every time the old bastard took him out to eat or just for a stroll… it had been to issue more of his commands. He'd tried to take Ayame away from him… he tried to take Iruka away… he wanted Naruto to be a dumb, defenseless little battery for his scheme to manipulate his father's work. That thought snapped him out of his ramblings and his cold cerulean blue eyes turned to look right into the glowing circles that stared at him with the machine equivalent of concern.

"Viktor-san, I need you to tell me everything that happened between you and my father." Naruto leapt down from the table, his body moving with a grace that he never knew before.

Viktor observed the young man with an analytical eye. He could tell that something was very different about him. There was confidence where before there was cautious optimism. There was grace where before the boy had a sort of tempered clumsiness in each of his movements. The false mirth and glint of mischief he'd seen before was replaced with cold calculation and unmasked disdain, though it was definitely not directed to either him or Blitzcrank. In fact, the child seemed much more at ease around him and his golem companion. These observations took all of a moment for his highly augmented mind to process before his old body limped with renewed vigor out of the room, "Follow me boy, it would be best to explain in my laboratory."

Naruto followed without hesitation, throwing his coat off as he stalked behind the robotic scientist and tossing it into a pile of rubbish in the corner. Blitzcrank followed after, his eyes lingering on the discarded old jump suit top for a moment. There was something odd about the gesture, like watching an animal shed its skin, _'What is this feeling? It is like a foreboding, and yet… it is as if something good is coming rather than something bad.'_

Viktor let a burst of power fire from his staff as the trio found their way back to the lab where the Nexus Fountain stood dull and lifeless in the center. The old bot began to rummage about the mess of papers and books as his voice rang through the chamber, "Sixteen years ago Namikaze Minato performed a service for the Daimyo of the land we are currently a part of. In return for his great service he was given a copy of a very detailed map, one created by the only other human to ever stumble upon this place. His name was Tadataka, and the man was a great visionary and explorer. Anyway, Minato found our Underground Shelter and immediately assumed that it belonged to someone sinister… Oro something. Regardless, the young man came in here guns blazing and demanded that we submit to questioning."

Naruto listened intently; his mind never so focused as it was now that he was free from the damnable influences of the Obedience and Suppression seals, "Figures, the two of them had a… disagreement, if the history lectures and text books are accurate. I imagine Tou-san was worried that the snake was here in Wave continuing his horrid genetics experiments."

Viktor paused in his searching and his body tensed for but a moment before resuming his actions with renewed fervor, "Quite, but you can rest assured that he found no evidence to support the claims, and that is when the two of us struck a deal. Before I tell you more about that, it would be best if you learned a little more about me, Blitzcrank, and where we originated from…" The last of the papers he had been shoving about was gone to reveal one of the oldest books Naruto had ever seen. It was bound in fine black leather with nary a single indication of any damage, save for the incredibly stained pages within. Centered on the cover was a circle with gold trim surrounding a rich blue that seemed to move about like the surface of water. Emblazoned over the odd circle was a large symbol that Naruto had never seen before composed of two intersecting lines that created a ninety degree angle that opened toward the upper right hand corner of the tome.

Viktor waved his staff over the strange book and to Naruto's surprise the heavy thing started to float as if riding on rising air currents. Alarmed, but not put off, Naruto stood in a tense stance ready for anything, yet lacking any sort of threat that would instigate conflict where there was none. The book floated slowly toward the space between the three of them and then opened up. The pages flipped quickly, skipping several chapter by the looks of it, and then came to rest on a page that held a highly detailed map of lands that were completely unfamiliar to the young ninja. Naruto spared a glance over toward Blitzcrank and even without proper expressions the machine seemed almost nostalgic. Hearing Viktor's grating old voice brought Naruto's attention back to the large floating text.

"Before I speak, I would ask what you understand of Time and Space, as a science and not the literal." Viktor was quick to add the last bit when he saw the questioning look on Naruto's face.

Naruto placed a hand on his chin as he thought, "Unfortunately, my knowledge is very limited right now. I have been… held back for a time. Explain what you must freely."

Viktor gave a nod before continuing, "Very well, first I will simply state that in the eternity of the universe there are several dimensions all layered parallel to one another, and each with unfathomable amounts of differences and similarities. There are spaces in between where the physics of reality cease to exist, and only a handful of people have ever truly touched upon those realms. Everything in this facility, including myself and Blitzcrank, are from one of these alternate dimensions of reality."

Naruto was overwhelmed by this information, and for all intents and purposes he was willing to deny all of it as a rather complicated ruse. Another dimension? Infinite alternate dimensions? The whole thing was highly suspect. Scowling, he narrowed his eyes at Viktor, "You're telling me that you're from some other world? You want me to believe the two of you are aliens or something? You think I am that stupid?"

Viktor showed no signs of being put off by the blunt accusatory tone Naruto was using, "No, not another world, boy. We are from this world, but another layer of reality. Our two dimensions were the closest together in terms of similarities, or so we assume based on the information we have been able to collect."

"So where exactly are you from? What dimension?" Naruto crossed his arms, willing to see how deep the rabbit hole would go and if he would be able to stomach this pack of hogwash.

"Our version of this world was known as Runeterra, and where your Elemental Nations are situated was the Super Continent of Valoran. Instead of countries named after elements and natural resources, our lands were divided into City-states, each with their own governments and militaries. Sadly, our worlds have one absolute similarity: war. Much like the wars that have ravaged a good deal of your Elemental Nations, it was war that brought Runterra and all her people to their knees." Viktor gave his staff a small wave sending the pages of the still floating book flipping forward to depictions of battles, some more detailed and detestable than others.

"On Runeterra there was a magic, or Mana, that saturated the land and sustained all life. According to legend there were artifacts of immense power known as World Runes said to have had a hand in the creation of Runeterra. As is the nature of things, what was once a source of creation and life, eventually the World Runes became a source of destruction and death. With such power on the loose, nations sought them as a means to combat the rising power of their rivals. The Rune Wars began as a ploy by several nations to seize land and power from their neighbors. Calamity after calamity taught them nothing, and eventually the entire world was on the verge of collapse.

While your people wage wars with elemental abilities and physics altering techniques, your ways pale in comparison to magical warfare. Imagine entire settlements engulfed in a sea of intense fire. Picture whole mountains shattered by a simple incantation. These were the feats of powerful magicians that used their knowledge to lord over common man and obtain political power. Greed my boy, greed, lust for power, and endless consuming hunger that had been left unchecked for centuries. And then, as the world teetered on the edge of destruction, people finally realized the error of their miscalculations. Powerful storms, acidic fallout, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions… life was hell and we had no one to blame except ourselves.

The most powerful magicians in all of Valoran came together to form a council in order to seek out a solution, some way to save Runeterra. Their answer came in the form of… The League of Legends." Viktor flashed through several more pages until he had the book freeze on a depiction of several magicians standing together in a circle, each hovering over a crystal of some kind, "The League of Legends was designed as a means to resolve large scale political conflicts in a controlled, stable environment that would eliminate the use of wide scale magical spell work. If the nations had no need for such devastating magical abuse, then Runeterra would be allowed to rest and heal."

Naruto looked closely at the picture of the young magicians and their odd orbs, "I'm not quite sure what the League of Legends actually is. From your story, it sounds like a gathering of powerful people. It would be like having all the most powerful ninja in the Elemental Nations living under one banner."

Viktor hummed softly, "Close… though the League was far from an alliance. In fact, members of the League would often go to extreme lengths to demonstrate just who they were and where they were from. The League was never meant to bolster true peace… it was meant to control conflict. Matches were nothing more than organized battles between small groups of warriors, known commonly as Champions. What began as a means to solve differences slowly devolved into a spectacle that was beheld all throughout Valoran. Mighty men and women who had volunteered to battle for their homelands became celebrities, and some thrived off of it. It became less about the political gain, and more about the great games that people would bet on, sometimes going so far as to assassinate rivals over misplaced wagers. And then… the summoners who controlled the matches became… tainted."

"Summoners? What exactly is a summoner?" Naruto interrupted Viktor for the sake of understanding where the current tangent was going.

The man bot nodded as he recalled everything he knew about the odd magicians, "A summoner was a magician who studied the arts of Space and Time in order to summon objects, both biological and artificial, from one location to another by tapping into the realms between dimensions. In order to fuel this highly unstable magic the summoners would use powerful fountains of natural Mana that we called Nexus Fountains." Here Viktor walked over to the large fountain with the floating crystal and gestured nonchalantly, "Much like this, only much more aesthetically pleasing. Summoners had to study for years before they could attempt to summon anything, and several more years would pass before they were allowed to summon anything biological. Often times summoners would retire having never been able to participate fully in League matches. You see, summoning magic takes a heavy toll on the practitioner, and only few ever delved into their studies far enough to avoid the fatigue."

Naruto gave a small nod while his eyes trailed over the oversized gem stone, "Okay… so when do we get to the part that involves my father?"

"I will tell you soon. For now, I have a bit more to explain, so be patient." Viktor almost laughed when he saw the childish pout on Naruto's face, but he was able to keep himself together in order to get this story over with, "As I said, the summoners became tainted. While the Champions and their respective homelands spent their time squabbling over matches and political intrigue, the League was slowly infected by something dark… something sinister. As it spread, the matches became even more troublesome, and the Champions took notice. First summoners spent entire matches forcing their Champions to commit atrocities, and other times Champions would be left to slaughter while their summoner became distracted.

Of course the intricate magic of the arenas kept true death at bay with powerful rune work, but being killed is in no way a pleasant feeling. The complaints grew in number as the troubles became more apparent. And then the taint made itself known… it took over the bodies of several summoners in order to speak to us. I still remember watching their skin turn as black as night… their eyes grew hollow before turning a brilliant golden yellow. And then they spoke… and their voices were unlike anything we'd ever heard before. _We are the Toxic, and we will consume this world…_ "

"The Toxic? That's a bit lame…" Naruto grumbled as Viktor gave him a look that, while void of any possible emotion due to a lack of facial characteristics, was definitely indignant.

Viktor grumbled a little himself before tapping his staff lightly on top of Naruto's head, "Fool, this is no laughing matter. The Toxic were classified as a symbiotic life form with links to another dimension referred to as Terra Prime. Unwittingly, one of our lower level summoners had been tapping into the Time and Space magic realms between dimensions and brought some kind of… infectious disease over into our realm of reality. It spread through the ranks of summoners so quickly that by the time the League was aware… they'd already slain the Council of Equity… and declared war on Valoran."

"So… you're telling me that some fool trying to make a name for himself ended up opening the door for some hell spawn, and then it spread like a virus to anyone who used Summoning magic and took over their bodies… and then they killed off the leadership of the League and started a war?" Naruto stood trying to sum up everything Viktor had told him so far. Of course the back story was important, but this disturbing turn of events was most assuredly leading toward what his father had to do with these alleged dimensional hoppers.

Viktor grunted with a small nod, "The war escalated and magic was cast across Valoran tearing the very foundations of Runeterra apart. All past grudges were cast aside to do battle against the Toxic Summoners, but nothing we did could stop their uncontrolled magic. Champions were forced to sever all of their previous ties with any and all summoners, even those allied with our cause. One by one, each city-state fell, thousands perished, and the remaining resistance members fled to the ruins of what was left of the League of Legends. It was there in that final moment when one of our own came forward to provide us with one last chance at survival.

His name was Zilean, also known as the Chronokeeper. He was a powerful sorcerer, the last of his people, tormented by a terrible magical disease. You see, as his name suggests, his magical talents laid in the dangerous field of Time and Space. His studies inevitably left him vulnerable and he developed something called chrono-dysplasia. While his physical body would remain in the present, his mind would be subject to harsh shifts in the perception of time itself, meaning that he would be forced to see the past, present, and future at any given moment with no way of regulating it. A terrible curse to be sure, but he was the one that provided us with the plan that would eventually save us all, or so we'd hoped."

By now Naruto had taken to sitting with his legs crossed and his face in a slightly comical foxy squint. All of it sounded incredibly ridiculous, but at the same time the machine man gave no indication that he was lying. The idea of several parallel realities all piled on top of each other was slightly easier to swallow than everything else due to his limited understanding of summoning beasts. His sensei, the bastard that he was, had summoned talking dogs to aid their team during the mission to Wave. When he'd been given the chance he spoke to one of them about where they came from and he'd been told that they lived apart from the Elemental Nations in another dimension. At the time he'd been forcefully made a naïve and gullible moron, so he'd accepted the vague explanation without fuss. He knew Viktor wasn't finished with his tale so he held his tongue, but he had several questions brewing he was eager to ask.

"Runeterra was doomed to oblivion, our forces were on the brink of collapse… so we made the ultimate sacrifice. Zilean was familiar with the unknown realm between dimensions, and he devised a plan to send what was left of the League of Legends, everyone and everything within the ruined halls, out of Runeterra's realm of reality and into another. This alternate reality would need to be similarly designed, with the proper atmosphere and vegetation to sustain our people. Because of the risk of death… I volunteered to be the first." Viktor turned toward the Nexus Fountain and took a moment to let his mind settle on the memories, "I abandoned my humanity in pursuit of the perfect mechanical evolution of man, and because of this I was not subject to the same limitations as the others. There were others who could survive… others who were unaffected by the passage of time, but I was the only one among us with the intelligence to adapt our technology here… I was sent here with a collection of our relics, while everyone else was forced to remain between dimensions in stasis. The process was referred to as Reverse Summoning, in which the League structures and the survivors within would be pushed away instead of pulled. Zilean led the mages in their attempt to rip open Time and Space, but I have no way of knowing if everyone else survived the tear.

Blitzcrank was the only other Champion physically able to join me, and together we have spent… many decades trying to adapt the Nexus Fountain to the natural energies of this dimension, with very little success. I theorized that if we found a potent enough source of power that we might jumpstart the Crystal Capacitor into converting the Natural Energy around us into a steady flow of Mana. That would allow for a focus to complete the Reverse Summoning that Zilean performed to send the League here. And that, my boy, is where your father came in."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as his mind slowly put the very obvious points together, "So then… he promised to help secure a powerful enough source of energy to help you get this piece of junk working properly?"

"This piece of junk is the cumulative work of myself and my creation over several decades of hard work." Viktor replied indignantly.

"…Does it work?" Naruto dead panned while eyeing the mechanical man.

Viktor felt a large accumulation of condensation form on the outer layer of his cranial carapace, "…No."

"Right… okay, so if I get this straight, you've spent decades trying to make a machine convert Natural Energy into this… Mana stuff. So what, there's chakra just sort of flowing through everything?" Naruto was really trying to reign in his childish skeptical tone, and of course failing.

Blitzcrank stepped forward to speak for the first time since the three of them had left the medical bay, "Negative, Naruto. Natural Energy is a unique power source generated by nature itself. According to limited information left in our possession by your father, Natural Energy is a source of power utilized by very few sentient species, and even less among the inhabitants of the Elemental Nations. Our theory is that this Natural Energy was once a source of power on Runeterra before the creation of the World Runes, however historical records available do not date that far back."

Viktor rejoined the conversation as he hobbled over to Naruto, "We've studied this energy meticulously and we are absolutely positive that our Modified Nexus Fountain will work. We just need some kind of initial boost to get the Capacitor up and running, and if Zilean is still watching he will complete the Reverse Summoning… Minato was the one to suggest using chakra, though we are still unsure of whether or not the Capacitor will accept it."

"And what makes you so sure that this is all even worth the trouble? What hope do you have that your people are even alive out there… where ever out there is?" Naruto stood up to look Viktor in the eyes, cerulean blue staring into two pools of dimly burning gold.

Viktor did not back down or turn away from the intense skeptical glare that Naruto sent his way. Instead he steadied his hold on his staff and stood slowly until he towered over the young teen. Joints ground harshly while several vents in his metallic body loosed steam that smelled of burning oil. With a deep intake of air he growled out a plume of hot steam that even Naruto's stubborn hair faltered under. Naruto didn't back down even as those two golden eyes burned with a new intensity.

"Because I must. I made a promise to do whatever it took to bring them here. Not many of them had much faith in me, and what truly worsened the blow was my own understanding that their lack of faith was justified. I was a selfish creature, arrogant in my beliefs, and I made many mistakes that I will never be able to take back. But, I can do the right thing now, and into the future. I can be redeemed, and perhaps one day my dreams will come to pass the right way."

The two men, one ancient and one a mere teen, were silent for a long while simply glaring into the other's eyes. For Viktor, he hadn't felt this strong in many years, his conviction the fuel to his inner fire. He hadn't spent this long planning, preparing, and desperately clinging to functionality for some little boy to challenge his beliefs and make him doubt himself. He would stand up for himself, for the belief that his fellow Runeterrans put in him, no matter what this child threw at him. He was ready… so of course he might have been thrown off by the sudden one eighty that the ninja went through. A large grin spread across Naruto's face as a determined glint shined in his once glaring, accusatory eyes.

"Okay old mech, where do we start?"

 **-Line Break-**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not a particularly unpleasant man to be around. Having spent years training himself into the ground as a younger man, surviving two wars, and surrounding himself with some of the most powerful men to walk the Elemental nations had served to humble him. He would freely admit that he was an old man, albeit a very powerful one, and that with as much power as he possessed… he wasn't _all powerful_. That being said, he'd like to think that nothing ever went on in Konoha without his knowledge… which is exactly why the normally pleasant man was a fuming mess of anger and frustration. The reason: Uzumaki Naruto, his little pet project, had somehow slipped out of the village without so much as a Kami damned alarm being sounded!

It had been days since Naruto had gone missing… and the only reason he even knew this was because he'd found the signed paperwork permitting the boy to leave… in his own hand! In a panic he'd interrogated his entire unit of the ANBU, his personal guard, to ascertain when the boy had actually been in his office to make such a request. He knew there were some among his guard who favored the boy, much to his annoyance, but those particular ANBU had been relegated to tasks outside the village to keep their meddling to a minimum. Of the guards who he could trust to leave the boy to his devices, he discovered that the three who had been on duty in his office that day had… _accidentally_ … deactivated their air filtration units while he'd been indulging on his favorite exotic tobacco. The entire village fell unconscious for five minutes under the weight of his immense killing intent upon that discovery.

To make things even worse, he had no idea who the hell had been working his front desk that day. His secretary was still on sick leave having caught some form of full body flu, and with the threat of his former student looming he hadn't been very picky with her replacement that day, even going so far as to forgo the paperwork involved and simply handing out C ranked pay to the shinobi from his wallet! Damnable tobacco had given him only hazy memory of the ninja, and there were far too many brown haired ninja in his militia to go on a witch hunt. Any and all meetings that day had been unscheduled, so that left no one with any recollection of just who had been sitting at that desk.

The only solid information that he had on the boy was his departure time at the Main Gate security booth, the signed receipt for the Travel Pass to show that the boy had at least gone the legal route, and the destination on said receipt. With that in mind he sent out his best trackers to fetch the boy under the guise of an emergency. It would be a simple thing to erase the boy's memory of the entire trip, and then things could be settled. Unfortunately, upon arrival at the coast of Fire Country, some kind of flashflood had wiped away all traces of the boy's scent from the area. Without a proper trail to follow, the team would likely be searching for a couple weeks. Hopefully the people of Wave would be cooperative with his team, otherwise they would be stuck searching the entire island nation.

Currently the Sandaime was sitting at his desk puffing away at some of the best locally grown tobacco to avoid the stronger imports while on duty. With his years of training to fall back on it was no surprise that he detected the presence of his old student as the man slipped stealthily through the window, "Jiraiya-kun, would it kill you to enter this office in the conventional way?"

The overly tall, white haired Toad Sage let loose a hearty bark of laughter while his camouflage technique faded in a shimmer of chakra, "You of all people ought to know just how unconventional I am. After all, it was you who taught me." Jiraiya sat with a small, smug smirk on his face on the window sill.

"Of course, but I never taught you how to move about like some kind of delinquent… that would be something born into you." Hiruzen spun his chair around to face his student while leaning back into his high backed chair, "Have you found anything that might lead us to…?" Somehow he could never bring himself to call Naruto by his name, let alone refer to him as a person when not forced to by the boy's presence.

Jiraiya suppressed a frown as he listened to the rather unpleasant tone that his sensei took when referring to Naruto. All those years ago when he had been commissioned to seal the boy's memories and place the Obedience and Suppression seals on him he'd been a different man. At the time he had been desperately seeking the approval of his sensei. When Orochimaru defected from the village it had been a heavy emotional blow to Hiruzen, and with Tsunade's eventual defection, albeit a legal one, Hiruzen openly criticized his students for their faults on multiple occasions. Jiraiya, always the underdog, the clanless loser, the slow learner, he wanted to prove that his sensei could be proud of him. When the old monkey had sent word through his spy network that he needed help with a seal, he leapt at the chance to prove his worth.

Now, so many years later, he could only look back and wonder if it had been worth it. The relationship between he and his sensei had grown strong, but it was at the cost of an innocent child's freedom. Often times while drowning in sake and surrounded by common harlots he would lapse into thoughts about the little blonde boy that he had signed over to the Devil's mercies. The greater good… it was a hollow concept now. Over the years he'd been called back to reapply the seals and strengthen them when they'd been damaged. On each occasion he found his eyes lingering longer and longer on the face of his former student's son. Every year the boy grew and every year it was like watching the growth of Minato all over again.

Steeling himself he let all of the usual mirth on his face vanish into a stone of indifference, "Unfortunately, no… I sent word to my people in Wave and it looks like he never made it there. Reports of bad weather recently could hint at a change of plans."

Hiruzen rubbed his chin in deep thought. If Jiraiya was correct then there would be no point in sending any back up teams to Wave, "I see… I will have to recall my tracker team then, they would only be wasting time and resources if they entered Wave. I can rely on your people to keep their eyes out for him, yes?"

"Of course sensei, they will send word to me immediately if they spot him. I'll spread word to most of my people in Fire Country as well, see if the gaki has wandered anywhere closer to home. With all the landslides in the area near Wave it's likely all of his tracks will have been torn up by now. Eye witnesses are our only real lead at this point." Jiraiya had to suppress a small smirk as he watched the old man swallow his lies like a cheap escort.

Said old man had already finished writing out his orders on a small form before stamping it with his seal, "Excellent, excellent, I have enough on my mind right now with Orichimaru lurking about. I leave this whole affair in your capable hands. If we are going to realize Minato's goals we will need the power of the Kyuubi. Bring him back." Hiruzen summoned his current temporary Chuunin assistant to take his mission update to the Communications office.

Jiraiya took his leave back out the window and leapt across several roof tops with a rather satisfied smile on his face, _'Naruto… I'll never be able to look you in the eyes after everything I've done… but on my honor as a shinobi, I'll do what I can from the shadows to keep you safe from that scheming old monkey from now on if it kills me.'_ The Toad Sage thought about the reports of landslides blocking the route to Wave and how he'd accidentally been practicing some of his Earth techniques in the area. The giggle he let loose would put the perverted giggle he was famous for to shame.

As Jiraiya switched directions toward the Hot Springs for some under cover research he spotted the unmistakable silver hair of that miserable Hatake Kakashi. Putting on a neutral smile he waved the Elite Jonin down, barely catching his attention as the man made haste toward the Market District. The two halted their acrobatic leaping on opposing sides of the same roof before walking toward one another leisurely. Jiraiya lifted his hand up in greeting and received a lazy wave in return, "Yo, Jiraiya-sama, haven't seen you in a while."

Jiraiya found the laid back attitude the man exuded pretty lame, but then again he most often greeted strangers with a song and dance so… perhaps he was biased, "Kakashi, good to see you're doing well. I heard about your rookie team securing two spots in the upcoming Chuunin Finals. You must be proud, eh?"

Kakashi gave a half hearted shrug of his shoulder before pulling out an overused little orange book to read through casually, "Clan heirs, what can you do, ne? Kurenai and Asuma both have students in the Final as well. "

"How are the boys doing in their preparations?" Jiraiya couldn't alert the damnable Jonin that he was privy to more than he ought to know. As far as Kakashi knew, Naruto was no one important enough to consider more than a few moments, regardless of the boy's unique condition. If it seemed Jiraiya knew more about Naruto than the simple passing of names, it might arouse suspicion and Hiruzen was nothing if not paranoid.

Kakashi gave the page of his book a gentle turn while barely glancing away from the fanciful text, "Well, Sasuke is currently working on his elemental chakra manipulation and physical conditioning. I have something special in mind to teach him, but I won't say until I know for sure if he is capable or not."

Jiraiya hummed quietly in a mock impressed tone while inwardly he was uncomfortable with what the younger man had told him. There were only a few things that Kakashi might be going through such trouble to teach, and hearing about elemental manipulation made him uneasy. By all accounts the boy was an unstable flight risk, and even the council often debated on allowing him to continue his shinobi career. Jiraiya would have sent the emotional little bastard straight to Danzo, but the boy had accumulated too much popularity in the younger civilian population for him to suddenly go missing. Shaking such thoughts from his head he moved along to what he was far more interested in, "Very promising indeed. I hear he will need every advantage he can get facing that Gaara menace. What about the other one, Naruto I think his name was? I hear he is going to be facing that horrid little Hyuga prodigy Neji."

"Neji may be a little harsh, but his skills are out of this world. Naruto will be pummeled into near death in the first ten minutes. No matter the training he will fall, so I have decided to stick with his more promising teammate. He may not like it, but he must respect the facts of the situation. Once Sasuke makes Chuunin he will likely be sent on more advanced missions and I will have plenty of time to refocus on my other two students." Kakashi gave a sigh after he'd finished his speech feeling the mental fatigue of trying to justify his actions for what felt like the hundredth time. Asuma and Kurenai had both been particularly displeased with his explanation, though eventually they dropped the subject to pursue more pleasant conversation. Unfortunately, Gai found it near impossible to hold a grudge against him, even though the Green Beast had been adamant with his displeasure over the news.

As much as he would have liked to dispute the words of the lazy Jonin, Jiraiya was all too familiar with how poor Naruto was likely to fair. Hell, he'd more or less assured the kid would fail… no, not more or less, he had been the key to the boy's failures his entire life. That crushing truth left him without a retort, nor the energy to think of anything to say in general. One would think that the orchestrator of the piece would revel in his own success, but this particular work was akin to the saddest melancholy. Not to be caught out, he masked his emotions with one of his best smirks before he spoke, "Well, try not to be too late this time, ne? Wind and Fire country will send their most prominent lords and ladies to attend. We need our stars on display!"

"Maa, maa, not to worry, I've just recently got a new watch. Waterproofed." Kakashi waved his hand back and forth before peeking his lone eye over the top of his book, "By the way… why so curious about Naruto, hm?"

Jiraiya now waved his hand in a dismissive motion, "Sensei was asking for me to have a look for the brat. Seems he snuck out of the village."

Kakashi snapped his book shut with a sharp slap, "H-he what?" All traces of his lazy attitude were gone as a look of regret just barely touched on his half lidded eye.

Jiraiya inwardly smirked at the sudden shift in mood, though he chose not to show that he'd noticed the slight stutter, "Yeah, weird eh? I was told to keep it under the radar, but as his Jonin sensei I thought you ought to know. Maybe you'd seen him, or might know his hiding spots or something, ya know?"

Kakashi held Jiraiya's gaze for a few moments before closing his eye and rubbing his chin, "…I will keep an eye out whenever I am near the village. I never thought he would defect…"

"Oh, no he didn't defect Kakashi, he filed for a Travel Pass a couple days ago, all signed and approved by the Hokage… while he was under the influence." Jiraiya gave a small chortle to keep the mood from becoming too serious, "Don't let that slip by the way, sensei would kill us both."

Kakashi was torn between worry and relief. Relief because his student hadn't defected and become a missing nin, but worry because the boy was as threatening as a baby fox. Fox… the boy was a damn target for enemy villages, regardless of how hard they had tried to keep his identity a secret. With the legal paperwork he couldn't legitimately hunt the boy down… and then he had Sasuke to mentor as well. Damn that blonde idiot, he _would_ create a mess like this while so much was going on all ready. He heaved a heavy sigh, "I'll take it to the grave. Please, if you hear or see anything, have the Hokage send me word one way or another."

Jiraiya gave a large grin and a thumbs up before vanishing in a burst of smoke. Kakashi stood for a few moments mulling over everything that he had just learned. Naruto, his annoying, naïve, knuckleheaded student had left the village the same day that he'd fed him that lie about the Uchiha and the council. He could still see the betrayal in the blonde's eyes as he submissively accepted his words with full and undying trust. In the ninja world it was near impossible to believe in anyone or anything with nothing but deception staring you in the face each day. Naruto though, he was a very trusting person who wore his heart on his sleeves. The only thing he never believed were Kakashi's ridiculous lies regarding his tardiness. In all other aspects of their relationship as sensei and student, Naruto looked up to him like neither of his teammates ever did. Even Sasuke who had received the most of his attention often scoffed at his advice and took to his lessons with half hearted enthusiasm. If he told Naruto to run twenty times around Konoha, he would run thirty times to prove that he was ready for more.

Kakashi pulled out a kunai to knick his thumb before blurring through several hand signs. He slapped his palm to the ground while uttering the familiar summoning technique under his breath. A small plume of smoke burst forth after a moment and quickly dispersed to reveal his most trusted canine companion. Pakkun, the mini pug ninken, was the smallest member of his pack and a fiercely loyal ally to Kakashi and the village in general. His fur was a rich brown with a much darker brown dominating his little snout. Like his pack mates he wore a blue vest, a sort of uniform to help identify their pack and help them stand out when fighting or tracking alongside the ninken of the Inuzuka clan. The little hound looked up toward Kakashi with his normal lazy expression, though the trained eye could see that he was tensed and ready for anything.

"Yo, Kakashi… the heck you summoning me in the village for? And are we on a roof?" Pakkun pawed lazily at the air with his bandaged right leg.

Kakashi knelt down so that he could speak with a lower voice, "Oi, Pakkun, sorry for summoning you like this but I need your help with something. You remember Naruto, right?"

"Hmm, the orange one that smells of noodles and bad decisions?" Pakkun let a very small smile touch his normally drooping lips, "How is the kid? From what I remember, he was the only friendly one, if a little odd."

"That's kind of what I need your help with. You see… he left the village the other day and I want you to find him and possibly get him to come back. A lot is going on around here and his leaving alone is only going to make things more troublesome." Kakashi had enough dignity to scratch at the back of his head sheepishly.

Pakkun quirked a brow, "You don't know where your student went? Shouldn't he have checked in with you before running off? Did he defect?" The dog's voice took on a deadly tone while memories of his time assisting with tracking Orochimaru flashed through his mind.

Kakashi quickly held his hands up in a placating gesture, "No, he didn't defect; he got legal authorization to leave. He probably went off to train somewhere with the Finals coming up."

Pakkun leveled his eyes on Kakashi with a bemused expression, "You are speaking of the Chuunin Exams?" The following nod gave the dog cause to continue, "As his Jonin sensei you should know what your student is doing to prepare for his promotional exam."

Kakashi rubbed at his eyes with his right hand, "I don't want to talk about this right now, I just want you to try and track him using his scent. It's bound to be all over Ramen Ichiraku so start there. Worst case scenario go check out his apartment, it's in the tallest building bordering the Red district, okay?"

Pakkun let out a small indignant huff before rushing off in a blur. Kakashi stood up and hummed while wearing a tired expression. In the span of no more than fifteen minutes his entire day had been ruined. He just knew his training session with Sasuke that evening would end up being a huge pain. Good thing he was on his way to pick up the latest edition of his favorite books… oh, and that spare set of clothes for Sasuke, if he had time.

 **-Line Break-**

"I would like it to be well noted that I am not comfortable with my current position…" Naruto added an extra little huff at the end to emphasize his displeasure.

The blond teen was sat in the middle of the laboratory in roughly the same location where he'd previously been sitting listening to Viktor spin his little tale of glory, sorrow, and eventual hope. Now, sitting in the middle of a stone floor, while mildly uncomfortable for one's back, is not a completely terrible place to be. No, the source of his discomfort may have had far more to do with the several dozen cables attached to his body via suction cups, clamps, electrical tape, and he could swear that he felt moist chewing gum on his back. His right brow hadn't stopped twitching since the moment he'd been told to strip down to the bare essentials, which rounded out to his tattered old boxers.

Blitzcrank was stationed near the Nexus Fountain with some kind of handheld panel that looked incredibly odd in his oversized hands. The speed with which he punched in… whatever he was typing… was incredible. Some Jonin didn't have hands that nimble, though a part of him wondered if the big bot wasn't just trying to appear busy in order to mask his amusement at the teen's predicament. Viktor was by far the most active of the three as he hobbled from one work bench to the next searching through scraps for anything he might have overlooked. His muttering in their weird language was grating on Naruto's nerves, especially when he would go through what was clearly a string of colorful curses. Upon hearing Naruto's latest little complaint Viktor groaned, or at least it sounded like a groan, it could very well have been some of his gears shifting… yeah, "Relax, will you? I am done, I am sure of it this time. Blitzcrank put that down and stand over at the Rejuvenation Platform."

Naruto watched the golem remove the little console that he'd been toying with before walking over to the raised platform near the back of the lab. The ninja was stuck facing the fountain so he was unable to see just what the large metal man was doing, but the silence left him picturing Blitzcrank twiddling his thumbs in a timid, comical fashion. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Viktor walking over to the Nexus and giving the fountain a rather swift kick, which of course caused the entire thing to hum a little louder, though it also sounded like it was sputtering and wheezing, "Old mech, should you be kicking this thing? It looks older than you for crying out loud!"

Viktor looked over at Naruto with little shutters narrowing the glowing holes of his eyes, "Very funny, boy… and I can do what I want, this is my Nexus. Now, what I want you to do is channel your energy slowly, and then gradually increase it over time. If it works… well, you'll pretty much know right away."

Naruto grumbled softly before assuming a slightly sloppy meditation position. He'd always found it hard to focus while trying to meditate. It was like his mind would wander whenever he tried to work with his his chakra, which nearly stunted his ability to access it in the first place as a child. Since then, no matter what he did, he found it increasingly difficult to keep his mind centered on one thing, giving him the appearance of some hyperactive lunatic. That had been the unfortunate consequence of the seals that had been placed on him by the Hokage. The damnable Spiritual Suppression seal was by far one of the most despicable things in the world, and Naruto was glad to be rid of it.

With nothing hindering his progress he found that accessing and commanding his chakra was exponentially easier. Oh, that isn't to say the boy had the chakra control of Kami, but it did mean that practicing and improving would be much simpler. For now, he could only do his best to follow the instructions that he'd been given. As if on cue, he felt the chakra he was gathering drain away leaving a tingling sensation on each spot that they'd attached their cables. Bit by bit he would increase the amount of chakra that he was gathering and the machine would greedily take it away. Even with his large reserves he could feel the strain on his body, sweat forming on his face and chest. With a grunt he pushed forward, but he could tell he would be drained dry by the time the machine finally had its fill, if it ever did.

' _Gah… what did I get myself into here? I'm just a Genin for Kami's sake!'_

" _ **This is something to behold. The noisy worm is actually being humble for once? Have I been sent to heaven?"**_ The voice of the Kyuubi echoed through his mind causing his focus to slip for only a moment before he ground his teeth and got back on track.

' _Is that you, bunny-chan?'_

" _ **I swear on my nine tails… you will suffer a thousand deaths when I finally break free from your troublesome stomach."**_

' _Yeah, I will suffer, kill all humans, I get it… can you just hush a little? I am trying to power this stupid thing for these crazy robot people and I think I am going to die!'_

" _ **Feeling weak again, eh~? The pathetic ape's getting tired~?"**_ The Kyuubi couldn't help but relish in the suffering of the teen that kept him imprisoned.

' _Look, if you don't have something constructive to add to this conversation then you an go back to being a lazy fuzz ball!'_

" _ **As much as I do love to watch you fail, and you do fail quite often, this particular instance of failure could potentially harm me as well, and we cannot have that. So, being the benevolent Demon Lord that I am, I'm going to lend you my power. Do not think that this means the two of us are allies, because as soon as you let your guard down I**_ **will** _ **rip my way out of your pathetic body and devour the leftovers to sate my thirst. Go on, take what you need, I have plenty…"**_

Naruto sucked his teeth at the damned fox laughing malevolently from within his mind. Within a fraction of a second he could feel his own chakra mixing with the thick, acidic chakra of the demon. The burning was unbearable, but he steadied himself and focused on the task. Now, with the potent chakra being siphoned into the machine, he could just barely hear the rich humming of the Nexus as it was brought to life with the influx of powerful energy. The sounds overwhelmed Naruto's senses and he couldn't hear Viktor's cries of joy, nor the following orders to stop. All Naruto could hear was the roar of his chakra flaring about his body. His eyes were shut tight to shield his eyes from the undoubtedly blinding light of his chakra. He didn't know when it happened, but at some point his chakra had stopped being drained, which meant the demonic chakra had no where to go and was built up inside him.

" _ **Oh, I suppose I should cut you off now, considering all of that blood and burned flesh… sorry~"**_

' _Stupid… fox… this is going to hurt like a mother-'_

Viktor and Blitzcrank watched in awe and horror as Naruto's blue chakra flames shifted to a brilliant violet that swirled and wrestled like it was struggling. The Nexus came to life and spread power quickly through the entire facility. Viktor heard the sound of rushing air and he could feel the Mana saturate the lab much like it always had back on Runeterra. Turning, his eyes brightened when he saw Blitzcrank engulfed in a green beam of light. The rusted old golem slowly brightened as decades of damage were removed in mere seconds. Broken spikes rebuilt themselves out of nothing, rust stains seemed to peel away to reveal the rich golden shine that Zaunites had admired during his years of service.

" _Yes, my boy, you've done it! The Nexus is already converting Nature Energy into Mana at an alarming rate! Naruto, you've done it! Naruto…! Stop my boy, err…_ Stop! Do not over work yourself! Blitzcrank, remove the cables, quickly!" Viktor rushed over to the boy only to feel his aura shift from the writhing violet flames to a brilliant red that swiftly took the shape of an enormous fox head.

As the old machine stepped back he could feel trace amounts of fear in his systems, something he hadn't endured in many decades, not since he'd abandoned his humanity. As he looked up into the eyes of the large energy beast it turned to face him with a terrible Cheshire grin. Viktor looked away from the monstrosity toward Blitzcrank and he was relieved to see he'd unceremoniously torn the entire cluster of cables directly out of the Nexus. That momentary relief was crushed as the energy around Naruto only grew more malevolent, and the boy was screaming in pain. Looking down he could see the teen's skin peeling, and the floor was pooling with blood. He heard a chuckle from above and his eyes turned back to the flaming fox.

" **Remember this day, tin-man, and remember what you have seen. This is what truly lies behind his wretched smiles… this is the beast that he hides beneath the surface. I wait, and I watch, and one day I will be free… and I will collect the debt that you owe me for my services here today."** The voice of the Kyuubi echoed through the facility followed by his horrid cackles that sent shivers down Viktor's entire chassis.

Just as the fox spirit sank back into Naruto the boy wrenched back, his body arched, and he screamed out an inhuman roar of mixed fury and pain. And then the energy exploded from his body sending Viktor and Blitzcrank sailing backward and nearly destroying most of the lab. The natural defensive barrier that every Nexus formed when fully operational suffered a great deal of damage, but the Nexus Fountain was left completely unharmed as it gathered copious amounts of Natural Energy to convert into Mana. As Viktor pulled himself to his feet on shaking joints he turned his eyes on the boy only to gasp. Only one thing came to mind:

" _Get him to the Rejuvenation Platform!"_

~Scene Shift~

Naruto wasn't in any mood to try and contemplate what the hell had happened; all he knew was that he was in an incredible amount of pain. He opened his eyes only to utter a few of the choice words that he remembered hearing Viktor grumbling earlier during his little fits in the lab. The lights, where ever he was, were situated right above his head and they were an ungodly bright white. The smell of antiseptic assaulted his nose nearly forcing bile to rise up out of his stomach. The only positive thing of note was the incredibly firm mattress he was laying on, quite unlike the bed of nails that he slept on back in his apartment. Bright lights… a nice bed… antiseptic…

' _Oh Kami, I'm in a hospital…'_

A feminine voice floated through the air in response to his small bit of cursing, _"Watch that mouth of yours, you're in a medical bay."_

"Listen, pretty-voice-hime, I don't speak… err… basic? I think that's what its called." Naruto groaned softly in as respectful a tone as he could muster while laying an arm over his eyes. He could feel the cloth of medical bandages rubbing his face and the strong scent of antiseptic only grew more potent.

A few moments passed while silence prevailed. Naruto found no fault in a lack of noise due to the small headache he was sporting at the time. His young and inexperienced mind assumed that whoever had spoken was simply trying to remember how to speak in his tongue, much like Viktor had stuggled momentarily during their first meeting. Little did he know, the speaker was sporting a harsh glare while struggling with a very prominent blush. Growing tired of the silence Naruto removed his arm to slowly open his eyes. As the spots faded a blur slowly came into focus. Dark hair, either a very dark brown or black, was the first notable detail. There was a lot of it that he could see, and the high ponytail style hinted that it flowed quite far down, perhaps mid to lower back. Next came skin, smooth with a healthy pale glow, accented by a set of cute pink lips that were most definitely set in a small frown. This woman, for they could only be a woman judging by their general figure, was wearing what he supposed was some kind of nurse's uniform, or at least a costume version. A sleeveless white, skin tight 'coat' did very little to hide her womanly assets even while all of the buttons were fastened neatly. The folded collar was accented with red lines that wrapped around and ran down the sides of her front drawing one's eyes south toward her dangerously short, white shorts and matching thigh high white socks.

The woman cleared her throat to attract Naruto's wandering eyes back toward her face where he was met with a set of beautiful green eyes. Naruto would have marveled at them if it weren't for the rather pointed glare they were giving him, "I would thank you to keep your yes where I can see them, little boy."

Naruto took a deep breath and sighed heavily while resting his head back, "Right, sorry."

The woman seemed taken back by his response, but he could care less really. He'd been caught checking her out, so it was natural for her to react harshly like that. He mentally thanked Kami that his Obedience seal had been removed lest he would have been cowering like a traumatized puppy under that glare she'd sent his way. Figuring she was likely there to oversee his recovery from whatever happened he decided to get some answers, "So, what's the damages?" Naruto mentally prepared himself for the list of ridiculous injuries he likely sustained.

The nurse eyed him warily before speaking slowly, "Well, you were moved to a Rejuvenation Platform after your incident in the lab. Viktor explained to us that you had suffered some kind of severe trauma after accessing a potent source of sentient energy. According to him, you sustained multiple burns that resulted in a great deal of skin and blood loss. We ran a few tests and found some cases of internal damage as well, though by the time we arrived you'd already begun healing at a staggering rate. Between that and the Rejuvenation Platform, all we had left to do was ensure that you were properly bandaged to reduce your chance of infection, though it is likely you'd have been perfectly fine. However… you've been unconscious for several days."

"Oh sweet Kami of Ramen, Tsunami-chan is going to kill me." Naruto groaned as he slowly sat up, much to his nurse's ire, "No worries, I've walked away from worse than this with a lot less medical care, trust me… what was your name?"

The woman pursed her lips as she watched her patient stubbornly wave off her advances to aid him back into bed, "Call me Akali, and you really shouldn't be getting up, you haven't even had anything to eat or drink yet."

The blonde chuckled morbidly, "Trust me, when I get back to my friends, I'll probably die eating and drinking. I need to find Viktor and… wait." Naruto froze as his mind finally kicked on, "The Nexus Fountain… all his friends… what happened?" The boy rubbed his temples a bit to try and recall anything from the lab earlier in the week.

The now named Akali stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Relax, you likely won't be able to remember much. Viktor said you wouldn't respond to his calls and then you suddenly… exploded."

Naruto looked up into her emerald eyes with a pleading look on his face, "Did it work? I didn't ruin his work did I? I lost control… I let the fox get involved… I-I couldn't stop the chakra from-" He was silenced by a firm hand resting over his lips, an action that brought a dusting of red to his cheeks.

Instead of another glare or haughty look Akali smiled warmly at him, "It worked. Everyone's okay, we made it."

Naruto felt relief wash over him as he shut his eyes to stop the tears threatening to fall. It wasn't so much that he'd saved a bunch of strangers, nor was it the fact that he'd helped a couple of crazy old robots that he now considered friends… it was that for once in his life he had accomplished something that he chose to do. Up until the day that he'd left Konoha for his training trip everything that he'd done, good and bad, had been orchestrated nearly every step of the way. It left him feeling empty and worthless, two feelings that he'd been struggling with even before the seals had been removed. Knowing that he'd been able to do something, even if in the end it didn't help him in any way, was a tremendous boost. Having saved countless people from floating in nothingness for eternity was a pretty solid bonus.

Feeling a sudden boost of energy he let the joy explode out of him in the most childish fashion he could muster. He leapt up on the hospital bed, thrust his fists into the air above his head, and cheered long and loud. Soon after he was singing praises and dancing in a small circle, all the while completely oblivious to the fact that he was wearing only a loose fitting hospital gown. Akali stood with her face turned to the side, her face ablaze with a heated blush, her hand cupped next to her eye to block the view. This was the scene that Viktor walked in on during his routine trip to check on his little blonde friend.

Naruto stopped his little dance when he heard the door to the room shut and he turned to face his new guest. Viktor was no long hunched over and holding tightly to a staff as he once was. Instead, he was standing tall with a sort of rigid grace that reminded him of the strict samurai that they'd learned about in the Academy. He'd opted to cover most of his mechanical body with a long dark leather coat and dark grey trousers. What one might mistake for thick armored boots and gauntlets were most certainly his hands and feet, just augmented with heavy armor. A rather imposing power node protruded several inches out of his chest that glowed red. A large cable wrapped loosely around his left side and up into the back of his shoulder where a large… thing was perched like some kind of bird. As Naruto watched the strange thing it moved on its own, startling him a bit. It had three long claw like extensions that surrounded a glowing eye at the center. The thing seemed to purr like an animal, and if he'd seen properly, it even nuzzled into the side of Viktor's head. The faded golden glow that had once seeped from his eyes had turned a bright and steady red to match the rest of his mechanical features.

"Good to see you've finally woken up, boy." Viktor's tone sounded relieved and a little amused something that caught Akali by surprise, though she hid it well. Seeing Akali in the room Viktor seemed to perform some kind of scan before he chuckled in his gravely robotic voice, "Was that particular ensemble really necessary?"

Akali caught on to what he was insinuating and crossed her arms with an indignant look on her face, "This is the same uniform that I used while working at Ionian General Hospital."

Naruto leapt down from the hospital bed to move up close to Viktor and examine him, "Whoa, old mech, is that you?" Naruto's voice rose from mildly surprised to childish glee, "This is so cool!"

Akali snorted rather unladylike while trying to suppress her laughter, "…Old mech?"

Viktor visibly stiffened before his head turned mechanically slow toward Akali, eye shutters narrowed, "You heard nothing…"

Naruto walked around behind Viktor to take in the full picture and then jumped slightly when the strange attachment to the old bot's shoulder swiveled around to watch him with a curious, animal-like wonder, "Whoa, that's so creepy cool…" He chuckled when the thing seemed to tilt and snapped it's blade arms a couple times as if clicking out some form of speech.

While his Death Ray Enhanced Weapon, or Drew for short, kept Naruto busy Viktor turned to Akali with a more serious tone of voice, "How is he doing?"

Akali turned her back toward Naruto to keep her voice mildly muffled, "His recovery is like nothing I've ever seen. Even the Might of Demacia could never match such speed at healing. If nothing changes, he will be free of his bandages by the end of the day. He may even escape scarring, which shouldn't be possible since he is most definitely a normal human."

"Is it healthy for him to be moving about like this? You know the higher ups have been pressuring us to see him soon." Viktor glanced over at the energetic youth attempting to challenge Drew to a game of rock-paper-scissors.

Akali gripped her own arm a little as she scowled, "I know, I know… I would much rather he stay here for now and finish recovering. I mean, I understand the rush, but-"

Naruto interrupted their conversation as he poked his head between the two of them to peer up at their faces, "First of all, I'm standing right here so the whispering isn't helping much. I've always had better hearing than most, hehe. Second, and I cannot stress this enough, I've walked away from worse than a bit of burned skin. One time I had a fractured skull, broken arm, and half the skin on my left knee missing. I was out of the hospital in a day. So, who's asking for me?"

Viktor turned to face Naruto while Akali looked away with a slightly disgusted look on her face, not because of the teen, but rather because of the image he portrayed. The hell kind of life has he led where full body burns, broken bones and possibly worse are a walk in the park? The mechanized man looked down at the teen with his bright red eyes before speaking, "Well, Naruto, some of our best and brightest have formed a council of sorts to decide our next moves, and they've been rather eager to meet our savior. The past few days have been quite hectic around here you know."

Naruto let out a deep sigh as he could feel his small headache evolving into a migraine, "Why do people always have to form councils? Everyone always ends up pushing their own agendas and nothing ever gets done."

Viktor and Akali both laughed lightly at his statement and the subsequent pout he adorned afterward, "If you are feeling well enough to move then it would be wise to get this particular event over with. There are clothes for you in the bedside table there. Unfortunately your original set was damaged beyond repair, and we still haven't found out where your jacket went."

Naruto waved off Viktor's worries with a dismissive gesture while walking over to the bedside table that had been indicated, "Forget about it, that orange menace was hardly fitting for a shinobi. It was forced on me…" Naruto's voice was laced with venom. While Viktor understood what Naruto meant, Akali was left confused, and her eyes seemed to twinkle at the word shinobi. The young woman quickly turned around as Naruto shed his medical gown to get dressed.

"Did you say that you were a shinobi, Naruto?" Akali couldn't contain her curiosity for long, and she'd never met anyone outside of her clan that practiced the art of Ninjutsu.

Naruto wrestled with a pair of boxer shorts before eyeing a pair of denim slacks of a design that he was unfamiliar with, "Hai, Akali-san, though to be honest I'm probably the worst shinobi in history, not that I had much say in the matter. I'm really good at stealth and infiltration though, if that counts. Usually the things I excel at are considered useless."

Akali frowned as she listened to him go on about his shinobi skills and the pitfalls he's suffered along the way, "Stealth and infiltration are the two most important aspects of being a proper shinobi. We work in the shadows after all."

Naruto finished zipping up the small zipper in the front of his new pants and then looked up at her back curiously, "We? Are you a medical ninja?" His voice took on a hint of excitement that brought a small smile to Akali's face as she pictured the light in his eyes.

"I'm not sure what a medical ninja is here in this world, but I don't use any of my shinobi skills to heal if that is your question. I just happen to be very skilled in the medical arts and I often work at the hospital while not working with my clan." Akali let a little pride seep into her voice as she spoke of her work with the hospital. Spending most of your life learning to kill to protect the equilibrium of the world gives one perspective. To save a life is more important than to take one.

"No wonder you wear those kinds of clothes then. More mobility, the added bonus of seduction tactics, and the material doesn't make a sound… you really ought to be teaching the girls back home." Naruto casually voice his opinion without much thought to what he'd said.

Akali's fingers brushed against a hidden scalpel tucked away in an unseen pocket on the side of her shorts. She was torn between feeling slightly flattered that he'd approved of her, flustered that he found her outfit seductive, and irritated that he'd insinuate that she would resort to seduction tactics to get the job done. She was the Fist of Shadow for God's sake, her entire body could be considered a deadly weapon! Perhaps that thought hadn't been worded correctly, because her face lit up as if on fire.

Sensing the tension coming from his fellow Champion Viktor took the initiative and stepped forward, "We'll have plenty of time to learn more about each other soon. Now finish up so we can head to the War Room."

Naruto stood up and stretched his limbs a bit while testing his new clothes. They'd given him a form fitting long sleeved black shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of light leather shoes that made his feet feel hot. Looking toward Viktor he gave a slight nod, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, just wish I had a hot bowl of ramen before being thrown to the wolves."

"Not to worry, we can get something for you to eat before we join the others in the War Room. Knowing them they'll be in session for at least a few more hours. In the meantime I'll fill you in on everything that's happened since your incident in the lab." Viktor gestured toward the door with a sweep of his arm.

Akali turned toward them now that her mixture of emotions had been reeled back in, "Take it easy on your body, Naruto, and be sure to eat plenty of food. Your body showed signs of malnutrition and that will hamper your rate of recovery."

Naruto waved casually toward Akali while he walked to the door, "Sure thing, Nurse-hime, thank you for looking after me." He flashed her a big grin before stepping out into the hall.

Viktor stopped on the threshold before looking back, "I'll be sure to keep the young ward out of trouble, Miss Akali." With that, the cyborg left the medical bay.

Akali stripped the bed clear before tossing the bloodied sheets and blanket into a hazard bin in the corner. She then walked over to the chart hooked onto the foot of the bed before glancing over all of the test results for what felt like the thousandth time. As a medical professional she desperately wanted to know just what the teen had gone through to leave him in such terrible shape, and that wasn't even considering the damage from Viktor's Nexus incident. She put the chart under her right arm before slowly melding into the shadows around the room.

' _What's your story, kid?'_

 **~Scene Shift~**

Naruto couldn't believe how much different the facility felt only a few days prior. Upon closer inspection he'd realized that the room he'd been shacked up in was located directly next to the larger medical room he'd woken up in after his seals had left him nearly comatose. The first change that he noticed, mostly due to being the most obvious, was how much warmer the corridors seemed. Before, the eerie blue glow gave the passages a creepy atmosphere that accented the slight chill in the empty facility well. Now, not only had the temperature change to a much more comfortable scale, but the crystals had brightened significantly and changed to a much warmer shade of bright gold, almost as if a small fire was kept in each of the little gems.

Then, as the two of them began their journey to secure some food for the young teen, he noticed that previously empty rooms were full of furniture and storage shelves. There were some offices, a few libraries judging by the amount of heavily packed book cases, several lounges, and what he could only assume were sleeping quarters with multiple sets of bunk beds. There was hardly a set pattern to how the rooms were organized, which led him to believe that most of it had been set up rather hastily. Viktor noticed the contemplative look on Naruto's face, "You have questions?"

"Yeah… this seems like a lot of work for three days. Not sure how you all did it, even if you had a few hundred people. And there are some rooms here that were completely caved in before and now they look brand new." Naruto emphasized his point by gesturing to anther storage room that had been left open. Inside there were several hundred crates of goods labeled in an odd angular alphabet.

Viktor chuckled a little at Naruto's very confused expression before looking ahead of them, "During the initial Reverse Summoning, due to a lack of focus, Zilean and the Loyal Summoners of Runeterra were only able to send a very small portion of the original League of Legends campus here, along with myself and Blitzcrank. The whole thing had been very messy, but enough supplies had successfully made it here with us to construct the Pseudo Nexus. With your help we were able to establish a proper focus for Zilean to complete the Reverse Summoning with proper strength and accuracy. I'm not too well versed on the subject, but from what I can gather… the shift in reality caused by the Reverse Summoning forced space here to bend and ripple until everything fit properly. Or perhaps whatever space we needed sent the imposing physical matter into the empty space between dimensions. You… aren't following me, are you?"

Naruto was staring up at Viktor with a very blank expression as his brain burned trying to keep up with the absurd science fiction nonsense the robot man was spewing, "I think I understand what your saying, just not what any of it means. Even without those nasty seals on me I'm still just a thirteen year old, I ain't no scientist."

"Hmm, true… I suppose you'll just have to take my word for it until we've got you up to speed." Viktor hummed softly while his metallic fingers tapped away at his solid iron chin.

Naruto's ears would have twitched if that were at all physically possible, "What do you mean got me up to speed?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously while he looked at the mechanized man.

Viktor looked back at Naruto before chuckling, "Worry not, we'll discuss that after we've been to see the upper brass. For now, I think I ought to introduce you to our resident chef." He gestured to a set of double doors set into the stone wall made of what could be fine oak wood, though there were signs that the portal had been augmented in some way or another, due to their utter weightless feeling when Naruto gave them a gentle shove.

The room was just as warm and welcoming as the hall, if not more so thanks to a roaring fire set into the far left wall of the chamber. The chamber itself was rather large with an upper floor built to resemble a balcony, all a fine dark wood that went well with the orange glow that seemed to radiate from no where and everywhere all at once. Round tables were set about the room each with four or more chairs that, while not built for a Kage or Daimyo, looked comfortable enough. A similar scheme was reflected on the upper floor, though the spacing was much larger, likely to cater to more private parties. Built into the back wall opposite the entrance was a bar, and the unmistakable kitchen area where some of the most magnificent scents were drifting from.

What caught Naruto off guard wasn't so much the décor or the aromas so much as the sudden burst of sound that hit the pair of them like a wave. They'd just been outside in the near silent corridor, and then bang, the doors open and the sound of at least a dozen upbeat conversations roared to life. No one took notice of them as they entered, and Naruto felt thankful for the fact, remembering his arrival in Wave. Most everyone in the room were human, key word being most. As Naruto scanned the area he saw a table surrounded by small… furry people, no taller than Inari or Konohamaru back home. Knowing better than to openly stare at them, considering how he felt when he felt the eyes of others honed in on him for too long, he looked away and caught sight of three large bears, each a different color and wearing heavy armor that interlocked with several plates each several inches thick.

Naruto let his eyes wander again trying not to linger for too long, and he spotted a table of rather large men, each covered in clumps of unruly hair that stuck out in several directions. Their speech was harsh and guttural, and they performed rough hand gestures as they spoke. The boy spotted three clubs made of various substances, though they all gave the impression of being incredibly durable. Just as he shifted his gaze away from the odd man-like beings he had to leap back, pulling Viktor along with him as a man with a girth that even the Akimichi clan would have trouble matching slammed through several empty tables. Naruto's nose crinkled as the stench of strong alcohol overwhelmed him and threatened to introduce him to his own bile. The man was huge, obviously, and his large arms bore several unique tattoos. The top of his head was smooth and bald, yet around his neck and down his back he wore thick locks of fiery ginger hair. His beard was long and hearty, braided neatly despite his slightly wild look.

Viktor straightened up and brushed his coat as he watched the cumbersome man gather his wits and give his own robust gut a very resounding slap, "Thank you for that Naruto. _Gragas, what have we told you about your rough housing?_ " Viktor adopted a stern tone as he eyed the round drunkard.

The now named Gragas turned, nearly toppling another table with his swinging belly, before laughing heartily, _"Oh aye, ye don' need to tell me again, tha' was a wee accident!"_ Naruto noted that this man spoke with a very thick accent, even if the teen couldn't understand a word that was spoken.

The blonde shinobi gawked as the large man pulled a hefty cask seemingly out of thin air. With a resounding pop the thing had been opened, and the next moment the man had lifted the cask to guzzle down a torrent of questionable, purplish-blue liquid. Viktor couldn't suppress a deep groan, _"Still celebrating I take it?"_

" _You know it, ye old cog smithe! Why don' ye sit a spell and join me!? Bring the wee lad there, we'll see 'im right pished 'fore the day is through!"_ Gragas laughed merrily while giving his gut another slap, something that Naruto found both disturbing and hilarious.

" _We'll take a rain check on that, we need to get him fed and then he needs to see the council."_ Viktor would surely have rolled his eyes at the resounding groan and subsequent belch that Gragas loosed upon the mention of the council, _"Yes, yes, people working is just awful, I know. Just try not to break anymore tables, Morgana is going to end up cutting you off… in more ways than one."_

Gragas chuckled between drunken hiccups as he wiped a particularly annoying dollop of wine from his thick mustache, _"Relax, tha' lass wouldn't 'urt a fly."_

Viktor was about to retort when an eerily sweet voice echoed through the room causing all conversations to stop on a dime, _"Gragas… that pile of wood wouldn't be my tables… would it?"_

Naruto peeked around a suddenly stiff Viktor toward the bar and his eyes widened while his cheeks flared up. Standing behind the counter was a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with flaming red hair draped down her back and the left side of her face hiding the respective eye from view. Said eyes were eerily absent of irises and pupils reminding him of the Hyuga back in Konoha. She wore a white chef's hat and matching top with two columns of buttons lined down her front, the latter hugging against her curvaceous body nicely. Naruto could just barely see the beginnings of a long, darkly colored skirt that flowed down to hide her legs from view. And when the teen let his eyes travel back up he finally took notice of her most identifying features: a set of dark feathered wings protruding from her back and hanging over her shoulders, and two long, pointed ears peeking through her luscious red locks. The wings looked slightly ragged, and yet that did nothing to take away from their beauty, perhaps even making them more beautiful because of their unique twist on the angelic white cliché.

The woman pointed a small glare toward both Viktor and Gragas, clearly blaming the two of them for the damage to her tables, before her eyes settled on Naruto and softened immediately. The winged woman gave a warm smile briefly before shifting back into her glare for the two adults both now attempting to not make a sound, _"I expect the two of you to fetch me a table and chair set for each of the ones broken within the next fifteen minutes…"_

Viktor looked ready to protest when Gragas used one of his obnoxiously large hands to grab the tech professor and yank him from the chamber in great haste. Naruto huffed while shaking his head at the antics of the two adults, one of whom was far beyond old enough to know better than to argue with a lady. That said, Naruto winced as he remembered every time he'd cowed under the glare of a lady in the past, and all he could do was curse the Sandaime's grave. Deciding to be out of the way for the new furniture he walked over to the counter, and by way of her proximity, the beauty behind it who was standing with her hands on her hips waiting to watch the troublemakers fulfill her request.

Naruto felt inspired to at least try and defend his new friend, "That big guy is really the one who made that mess, chef-san. Please don't be too angry with Viktor."

The woman glanced over at the young teen before flashing another warm smile that shifted into a playful grin, "Well, Naruto, where would the fun be in only tormenting one of them? Two scared men is better than one."

Naruto blinked before tilting his head, "Hey, how do you know my name, chef-san?" Let it be known that Naruto is nothing if not entirely blunt. Like a smooth rock.

She gave a giggle behind her hand, her palm facing him so that he could see the light pink of her skin, "You're a hot topic around here, Little Savior."

"I… don't know how to feel about that title. Little Savior sounds like I am some kind of kid." Naruto grumbled rather maturely, at least in his opinion, "Well… you know my name, so can I know yours?"

She let one of her long nails flick his nose lightly which caused him to cringe, "You _may_ call me Morgana. Also known as The Fallen Angel. And while I am on duty here in the kitchens I am known as the Succulent Sinner!" She punctuated her little proclamation with a sharp cackle while holding two small flames in her palms that glowed like the light of a wood burning stove.

Naruto groaned and rested his head on the counter, "Come on, you have such cool titles and I am stuck with Little Savior… this is so unfair."

Morgana couldn't help but laugh at his sullen expression before leaning on the counter so that her face was close to his own. She then smirked before speaking in a sultry tone, "How about I cheer you up by making you a little something to… make your mouth water?"

Naruto's cheeks went red before he turned to mash his face against the counter top to stem the flow of his nose bleed before it could create a mess, "Surprise me…" Naruto couldn't think straight enough to ask for anything specific to eat.

The dark angel just giggled before walking off to the kitchens, though she kept a small order window cleared so that she could keep an eye on her impromptu slaves. Naruto sighed in relief when he found his view absent one dangerous temptress. Being seated on a stool he turned his body around to observe the goings on of the other patrons quietly. It was strange being surrounded by so many odd people, and yet he wasn't all that uncomfortable. Having spent most of his life surrounded by humans who made it a point to make him feel unwelcome, it was refreshing to be around people who could look his way without sneering. It had been different in Wave, yes, but there he was still out of place because the people there practically worshipped the ground he walked on, though that might be a bit of hyperbole on his part. Here, hardly anyone recognized him, and any looks of recognition he did get were followed by a simple nod of acknowledgement before he was left in peace.

However long he'd spent observing the people around the room he didn't know, but he was woken from his musings by Viktor slipping onto the stool by his right side. The teen turned to the tall robo and gave him a small smile, "So… you finished with those errands?"

Viktor felt the urge to be incredibly annoyed by the simple question, but he couldn't comprehend why. Attributing it to the fact that he'd been roped up in one of Gragas' messes, he gave a small sigh, "I suppose it wasn't so troublesome that I can complain. Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet, Morgana-san is making me something in the back. She went in about three minutes after you two left." Naruto turned to face the counter again before leaning over it, "So when were you going to tell me that people were calling me Little Savior?"

Viktor glanced over at him before chuckling, "I didn't think it was very important, so likely never. Why? Does the name bother you?"

"…A little. It sounds childish. I'm a shinobi, damn it. Even if I'm not the best one, I'm still considered an adult now that I have my license." Naruto sighed while rubbing his arms where they were still a bit sore, "So… want to tell me about everything I missed while I was out?"

"As much as you would think there is to tell, there really isn't. After you… well, exploded, I had Blitzcrank take you to the Rejuvenation Platform in the lab as quickly as possible. Your damage was severe, both internal and external. Even the RP had trouble regenerating most of the damage, but thankfully so long as we kept you there you would never bleed out, but it seemed something was fighting against the healing process. Meanwhile, the Natural Energy of this world proved to be far more potent than we'd anticipated, and within an hour the entire facility had been powered up. It took another three hours for the Nexus to generate enough energy for the Reverse Summoning.

There was no warning, no preset time to be prepared, the Reverse Summoning just happened in the blink of an eye. One moment the empty halls echoed with the breeze, the next everything burst into life as entire rooms and new levels of halls just appeared out of a warping haze. And then the people began to form in massive bubbles of pure Mana. First there were a few, then dozens, and then hundreds of them had appeared. As the light faded, I saw my fellow resistance members, each one never having aged a day. The only one who didn't appear was Zilean, and no one was aware of exactly what occurred between dimensions.

After the initial chaos had ended each faction assembled their people in order to choose our leadership. Trust me when I say I am glad that I held no political sway in my home, Zaun. The council was formed to discuss how we would move forward from here, but nothing has been decided. I… may have let slip that you were the one who provided the key needed to jumpstart the process to complete the Reverse Summoning, which inadvertently led to their demanding an audience with you." Viktor attempted to keep his eyes facing forward, but failed when curiosity got the best of him and he glanced back at Naruto. Two blazing cerulean eyes were boring into him with unchecked outrage.

"So that's why these people are calling me Little Savior? All I did was get your machine working, you're the hero here! I'm just a Genin, these people are going to expect some kind of… frigging prodigy!" Naruto raged in a harsh whisper so that the two of them wouldn't garner any undue attention.

At that moment Morgana appeared in front of the pair with two large plates of fresh food. There was a healthy serving of stir fried vegetables, tofu, medium rare steak, a bowl of miso soup with a boiled egg, and a small platter of sweets to finish off his meal. Viktor eyed the food with a look that spoke of longing. He had forsook his human need for sustenance long ago in favor of healthy, efficient motor oil. That didn't stop him from remember just how incredibly delicious food had been, regardless of how inefficient the process of digestion was in terms of generating energy. Meanwhile Naruto stared hungrily at the generous helpings of food with his own look of longing. He'd seen people enjoying such food through the windows of restaurants in Konoha enough times to know that everything was extremely tasty, though he wasn't sure whether to eat it or just enjoy the scents and sight of it.

Morgana offered the teen a set of chop sticks while flashing another warm, friendly smile, "Go on, dig in before it gets cold. But eat slow, or I'll smack you a good one. There's no excuse for poor table manners, especially while I am on duty."

Naruto took the offered utensils and then offered a quick prayer before digging in with gusto, though he was sure not to make a mess. True to her word whenever he let his excitement get the best of him he would be promptly smacked over the head with a small paper fan by the lovely lady chef. Viktor busied himself by working with a little portable console that he placed on the counter. Naruto caught sight of the floating screen and was lost in childish wonder. Reaching over, he gently flicked the edge of the bright blue screen, shocked that his finger went clean through and didn't even disturb the images. The man bot noticed his actions and chuckled lightly.

"Hey, Viktor, not that I don't think the new look is really cool… how did it happen?" Naruto returned to his food while he kept an eye on Viktor, his question slipping out between bites.

Viktor hummed softly while he thought over his current look, "Well, over the decades I used every piece of equipment I had to keep the Pseudo Nexus up and running, so I hardly had anything to maintain myself. When the Reverse Summoning was finally complete my entire stock of spare parts arrived along with the rest of my storage. I call this my Creator suit, a little something I designed when I debuted my precious children to the League."

"No offense, but can you even be a dad? I mean, I'm not experienced or anything like that, but when old man Teuchi explained the birds and the bees he-" Naruto was cut off by a gentle, feminine hand pressing over his lips.

Morgana gave him a pointed look that told him to shush, "Not where people are eating, Little Savior."

Naruto groaned into her hand while rolling his eyes at the use of his new title. Viktor and Morgana laughed at his expense while he simply crossed his arms and tried his damnedest to look indignant. Morgana gathered his empty dishes to clear up space before sauntering off into the kitchen, turning to wink back at Naruto when she felt his eyes on her back. The resulting blush and squint only served to make her laugh again before she vanished into the back. Viktor merely shook his head before looking at the blushing blond boy with as sympathetic an expression as his expressionless iron face could muster.

"Anyway, to answer your question, they weren't my actual children. I designed several special mechanical beasts using data collected by observing several of the Void creatures that served as Champions in the League. My recreations were faster, stronger, and under absolute control… something that many feared, which is exactly what I wanted at the time." Viktor looked down at the screen glowing in front of him where designs for something eerily reminiscent of a fox could be seen.

Naruto tilted his head, "You wanted to be feared?"

Viktor turned off his little console and placed it in his pocket, "Yes, I did, because at the time I was driven by my goal to bring about my Glorious Evolution. There were people adamantly opposed to my ideals, and I wanted them to understand that I would have my way, and they could either go with it or suffer beneath my boot. I saw myself as the hero that no one knew they needed, when in reality I was building myself up into a villain. It took the world ending for me to wake up from my insanity, and by then it was far too late to make up for the past. I was only lucky that everyone agreed to let me be the one to Reverse Summon here first."

Naruto gave Viktor a punch in the shoulder that nearly sent the bot off his seat. When Viktor regained his balance and turned on the teen he found him casually nibbling on a muffin decorated with a deep, blood red heart, "That was for being an idiot. From now on, if I catch you being an idiot again I'm gonna punch you again. And don't get mad, you know that hurt me more than it did you. I…forgot that you were made of pure metal." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while chuckling through gritted teeth.

Viktor sat silent for a few moments before he began to chuckle, and then the chuckle evolved into a full blown laugh that got people nearby to join in due to his odd, accented laughter. When he calmed down he gave Naruto a light slap on the back, "Come on, grab that last cream puff and we'll set off for the War Room."

 **~`End Line'~**

 **Figured I better stop there or I would keep going on and on until another ten thousand words got away from me. This story has no set amount of words per chapter like my other fics simply because I love Naruto and LoL so much that I don't want to stop when I get started. Not much to add here that wasn't mentioned in the A/N up top. Read, enjoy, review if you like, and share with your friends!**


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